Two Graves: The Song of Nephiah and Brelyna
by LtAdams2247
Summary: Had you been broken to the point of questioning existence itself, would love's power be enough to mend your wound? Rated M for graphical violence, themes of phychological torture, depression and suicidal thoughts, as well as some sexual content.
1. Vigilante

**Two Graves**

by LtAdams2247

 **The Song of Nephiah and Brelyna**

Of the Love to heal her Wound

Of Kindness bravely meeting Rage

Of two Souls so well attuned

Of a Warrior

and her Mage.

 **Chapter 1 Vigilante**

The Bard abruptly stopped his song and the sound of chatter and laughter vanished as the door swung open. A cloud of snow and ice was cast into the hall by the raging winter storm outside. The fireplace flickered violently, candles were blown out. The dozen battle hardened faces stared at the door, some carefully preparing to draw their swords, others charging a spell behind their backs.

It took a moment for the icy dust to settle and reveal the shadow standing in the doorway. It was a Dunmer girl, no more than 20 years of age, dressed in a fine mage's robe, her long ponytail wet from the snow. She looked across the room and smiled. As tension made way for relief, the inhabitants of the hall burst into laughter, sheathing their swords, sitting back down onto their tables and corner benches.

One of the Vigilants stood up from his stool by the fireplace and took his flagon to a barrel of mead. "What brings you to the Hall of the Vigilants in the middle of the night, little Elf?", he asked as he refilled his drink and the bard continued his song.

"Me? Nothing." She took a step aside, revealing the snow storm outside.

"By Ysmir's beard, girl! Close the door! Do you not... do you not see the... the storm..."His train of thought was interrupted by what began as a faint knocking but revealed itself to be heavy footsteps drawing close. Song and chatter fell silent once more. A shape in heavy armor and a hood walked through the door. Hands went towards sword grips yet again, as the vigilants realized, the warrior walking in was dragging two vampire corpses, one in each hand.

The wooden floor boards shook loudly as the dead undead hit the ground. The mage shut the door, quieting the sharp whistling of the wind. It was dead silent, not even the fire dared to crackle. It's light cast a faint reflection in the eyes that lay hidden under the dark hood. The warrior scanned the room, finally locking eyes with a man sitting at a table in the center of the hall. Every Vigilant in the room was prepared to draw iron at a moment's notice. The heavy boots turned right, stepped over the corpse and closed in as people made way for the menacing presence.

The man sitting across the warrior's target vacated his seat without being asked. The warrior sat down. The Vigilant looked nervously to his companions, sitting to his left and right. "Did you kill these abominations yourself, friend? G-good man!" He flinched as the warrior reached up to remove the hood.

"Another one?! You're not a man at all! What is it with Greyskins tonight?!" He laughed until he realized that his opposite neither smiled nor broke eye contact with him. "Listen, Elf, you did Stendarr's work by killing those Deadra worshipers. But if you think, there is a bounty for you, you will leave disappointed."

As the rest of the room fell back into lively evening chatter, his words were met by only silence. "What's your name, Elf?"

The mage had stepped up behind her. "My name is Brelyna Maryon of House Telvanni. This is Nephiah."

"Nephiah, huh? From what house are you then, Nephiah?"

No response.

He looked at the mage. "Is your friend deaf?" He looked back at the warrior. "That's a nasty scar on your cheek. Pretty little girls like you shouldn't get themselves into trouble like that." He smiled a condescending smile. No response. His amusement turned into anger. "HEY!" His fist hit the center of the table, flagons shook, ale was spilled. "Does she even understand what I am saying?"

"She understands everything.", Brelyna said."Say, Siegalf.", she continued, "What did you do before you joined the Vigilants?"

He was puzzled. "How do you know my name?"

"Surely you weren't born into the group?"

"How do you know my name?"

"I heard they attract low lifes and criminals because they are desperate with their numbers dwindling fast against the rising vampire threat."

Nephiah began to remove her left glove.

"Are you one of those?", Brelyna continued, "One of those lowlifes?"

Panic overtook Siegalf as he began to suspect who it was, sitting across the table. "HOW?!"

Nephiah removed the final leather strip holding the glove in place and took it off. She then put her hand on the table. A branding iron had left a scar forming the word 'slave' a long time ago. Siegalf's eyes widened.

Before he had time to reach for his sword, Nephiah had reached up and grabbed the back of the heads of the Vigilants sitting to her left and right and slammed them violently into the table so that it broke down in the middle. The two men were instantly unconscious. She jumped up, grabbed the wooden chair she was sitting up and smashed it over Siegalf's head, who also did not move after hitting the floor.

Vigilants with swords and axes rushed towards her. She reached over her shoulders, producing an ebony sword in each hand. Quickly she blocked an incoming axe to her left, a sword to her right. She locked the axe in her sword grip and pulled up, removing it from her attacker's grasp, then blocked another blow to her right which she followed up with an elbow punch. Using the momentum, she swung her right hand sword in a circle over her head and then brought it down to slice the axe wielder's chest open from his upper right shoulder to his left hip. Nephiah's dance like movement did not stop until completing the circle in a thrust forward, impaling the sword wielder sideways. She retracted her sword as quickly as it was thrust forward and arrived in a defensive position.

She scanned the room, sizing up each of the Vigilants that stood in front of her with weapons drawn, ready to attack. An orange glow flared up behind her. She fell to one knee, moving her head down to reveal Brelyna as she discharged columns of fire from her hands towards the group.

The forest was glittering in black and dark blue as the storm settled. It was dead quiet, no more wind, no animals. So the raging fire and agonized screams coming from the Hall of the Vigilants was all the more noticeable against its icy winter backdrop. A window shattered as a severed head flew through.

The door swung open, a Vigilant came out running, screaming, on fire.

A Vigilant mage had sent a ray of ice towards Brelyna which she held against with fire. Her orange column met his bright blue one in the middle between them, creating violent arcane eruptions where the two elements met.

Nephiah was locked in combat against a Vigilant who had the mind to hide behind a shield as the fire hit. He bashed his shield thrice against her, making her lose grip of her left hand sword and sending her back a few steps every time, until she was backed up against the wall.

Brelyna's strength began to fade as the distance between her and the ray of ice shortened more and more. Her face showed the stress she was under increasing as a drop of blood left her nose. "Nephiah!"

Nephiah had no opening for an attack. She was being pounded by a heavy steel mace, just narrowly deflecting the blows with her right hand sword while her left hand tried to gain grip and stability on an end table. It was to no avail as the table quickly broke down under her weight and the heavy hits. As she landed on the floor on the pile of splintered wood that once was the table, she lost hold of her sword. She raised her right arm in defense as the mace kept coming, still looking to make contact with her face. Luckily that arm still donned the steel plated glove.

The pain of each impact sent images flashing through her mind. Time slowed down, the noise of ice against fire, metal against metal faded.

A squeaky door opening, heavy steps closing in. A young girl, no older than ten, dressed in ragged robes, lying in a corner on a hard wooden floor, her left arm raised to protect her face, much like the position Nephiah was in right now. A broom stick coming down hard, she cried. A fresh branding wound on her right hand formed the word 'slave'.

Nephiah opened her eyes. The pain filled expression on her face faded quickly and was replaced by burning anger. The mace came down again. Instead of blocking it, her left hand went up to grab it mid air and not let go as the Vigilant tried to pull it back. With terror he saw the resolve in her eyes. Still holding onto his mace, she pulled herself up to her feet. He tried to bash his shield but her right hand quickly blocked and pushed it back to his torso. Both pulling on the mace on one side and pushing the shield between them, they almost looked like they were dancing.

She hit his nose with her forehead, a cracking noise was audible, blood splattered. As the Vigilant lost secure footing she began to scream in rage and push him back until they hit the opposite wall. The impact cracked window glass to the left and right of them. She slowly forced the shield upwards against his pull, until it's upper edge reached the Vigilant's chin. A quick upwards hit of her knee against the lower edge gruesomely ended the fight. Exhausted breaths left her as she looked down upon her foe with satisfaction, until the gurgling sounds stopped.

"NEPHIAH!" Blood dripped down Brelyna's nose as the ray of ice had almost reached her.

Her cry for help brought Nephiah back into reality in an instant. She threw the mace she was still holding straight up in the air, swung around her own axis and used the force of her movement to grab it as it came down and flung it across the room as if it was made of paper. Icy sparks dissipated into a fine, blue shower as the mage collapsed, the mace firmly embedded into the side of his head. Brelyna fell to her knees.

Nephiah quickly ran over, kneeled down in front of her and took her hands.

"I'm ok...", Brelyna said, breathing heavily. "They don't teach that at the College, huh?" She smiled.

Nephiah took a deep breath in relief.

A groan erupted from the center of the room. Siegalf pushed himself up from the floor and looked around. In shock he gazed upon the chaos around him. His brothers and sisters, slain, decapitated, burnt to a crisp, fire everywhere. He looked ahead. But before he could realize the Dumner were still here, he was grabbed and thrown against a wall. Nephiah had her forearm against his throat, securing him in position.

"Gods help me!", he cried, "What do you want?!"

Brelyna got back to her feet. "Oh, phew, argh..." She was still dizzy. "I think you knew the second you saw that brand mark."

Nephiah pushed a little further against his throat so he looked away from Brelyna back into her eyes.

"I'm guessing you thought the Vigilants could protect you.", Brelyna continued. "I always wondered why you people all wear robes. Surely in your line of work some armor would be warranted, no?"

A steel plated glove grabbed hold of Siegalf's manhood. A short scream followed.

The fire burning down the hall crackled loudly, beams of wood began to crash onto the floor.

"You two are dead! DEAD! The Vigilants will hunt you to the end of the world for this!"

Brelyna looked down to the corpse at her feet. She gave it a kick to make sure the vampire's face was visible to him. "See, Siegalf, we were never here."

"Damnit! Damnit!" Tears filled Siegalf's eyes, he looked to the heavens. "She will kill you today, you know that, don't you."

Brelyna stepped closer to the man who fruitlessly struggled against Nephiah's hold. "Might as well tell us where he is."

A moment of clarity filled him and he looked back down into Nephiah's eyes. "He is untouchable, wench! You little worm will never..." Nephiah's left fist closed and began to pull. His scream was bone chilling, Brelyna looked away. Nephiah's hand moved away from him until a faint snap was heard.

She let go of him, he dropped to the floor like wet cloth. "You... you damned whore... you don't stand a chance against him now...", he whimpered.

Nephiah left the hall without looking back. Brelyna looked around, pondering the chaos the two of them had brought to the once song filled hall this night. Another falling wooden beam quickly enticed her to follow her companion outside.

Nephiah was sitting in the snow, looking up into a majestic, star filled sky. Brelyna came up behind her and sat down as well. She leaned sideward, resting her head on Nephiah's shoulder. As the roof of the hall finally came down, Siegalf's screams were heard for a short time, then nothing but crackling fire behind them. A shooting star rushed across the sky. Brelyna gazed upon the calm and quiet eternity for a moment. She took a deep breath and looked to her friend. "Now what."


	2. Sparks in the Dark

**Chapter 2: Sparks in the Dark**

A sharp pain in the back of the head took Brelyna back into the world of the living. The darkness and blurriness took a moment to subside as she opened her eyes. As she tried to feel her head wound she noticed that she couldn't move. Panic descended upon her and forced her eyes open and the blurriness to pass.

She lay on a stone table, her arms and legs spread out and locked firmly in iron cuffs that were worked into the table's surface. She scanned the room quickly to see if she was alone, her short ponytail stuck to a small pool of blood on the table's surface. Nobody there. Not that she could see, there were many dark corners in the cave that the few dimly flickering torches could not reach. With a sigh of relief she tried to pull her arms out off the cuffs, see if there were weaknesses in the iron or the locks. There were none.

"Stupid stupid stupid!", she whispered to herself. She could have left well enough alone. She could have abided by the College schedule like everybody else. But no, she just had to try a spell two years of learning too advanced for her. Too powerful for her to cast even with the help of the strongest potion. She just had to devise a theory on how to make the potion stronger to be able to cast a spell she had no business messing with yet. What was she trying to prove?! She wasn't even sure the glowing mushroom would have made the potion stronger! "Stupid stupid stupid!"

Her mind was racing with thoughts of self depreciation as she retraced the multitude of decisions that led her into this dire situation. A growl echoed through the narrow hallways that led to the chamber. Not too close but close enough to snap Brelyna right back into reality and focus her mind. Again she pulled against her restraints.

"Maybe fire?", she said still whispering. "I could try to melt it away?" She snapped her fingers, sparks appeared. "Come one, flame, please..." She snapped again multiple times. "No wait! The molten metal would burn my wrist off! Focus, Brelyna, focus!" She snapped her fingers again. "Also, stop talking to yourself."

Another snap. Glittering particles appeared over her hand and faded away as they slowly fell to the ground. "Wow, this is hard when you can't move your arms. So that's what Faralda meant when she said it's all in the shoulder." She pondered for a moment. "Damnit, Brelyna, focus!" Another snap.

An ice spike formed, hovering over her opened palm. It was cold, but it took a lot of concentration to keep it formed, especially while fixed in this position. So her forehead was glistening in sweat. Ok... now how do I get you to hit that lock..." The cuff her hand was in prevented her from lifting the arm off the table's surface so directing the spike anywhere but up would be quite the trick. She twisted her wrist as far inwards and outwards as she could but all it would do is point the spike away from the table or right at her face. "This isn't going to work, is it..."

With a sigh of disappointment she let her head fall back onto the stone table. This was when she realized, she still had a bleeding head wound from when she was knocked unconscious. The sudden numbing pain made her lose hold of the spike which shot across the room only to shatter a makeshift alchemy table and several vials that stood on it. "Damnit!", she said in a whispered shout. If they didn't know she was awake before, they did now. Wouldn't be long.

Several loud grunts and moans echoed into the chamber, they were closing in. In panic Brelyna looked back at her right hand, trying to focus. She made a fist, then rose only her index finger as if pointing at the ceiling. She closed her eyes, the noises came closer and closer. A little ball of snow started to form and dance on her fingertip. She opened her eyes and pointed her finger towards the lock on the cuff. The ball quickly became a ray of ice that hit the lock continuously.

Not long after however the ray dissipated as Brelyna's concentration was broken by the shock caused by the growl that seemed to come from something hidden in the shadows within the room. Her breathing got faster, her eyes widened as she looked into the dark corner the noise came from. Slowly a half lit grimace emerged, then the creature stepped into the light. It was a Falmer holding a blood stained sword. Overtaken by panic Brelyna abandoned reason and started to rattle against her restraints trying to break free. As the creature slowly stepped towards the table, two more Falmer stepped out of the shadows, one of them wielding a makeshift magic staff.

They took position around the table as one of them raised their sword over her stomach. In terror Brelyna realized what was about to happen. "No please no!", she uttered breathlessly as the Falmer raised his sword further.

A twang, a swoosh, a wet cracking noise. It was over so fast, Brelyna needed a second to realize that only two Falmer remained looking over her. They turned towards the shadows. Another twang, another cracking. This time the Falmer's pierced skull landed on Brelyna's chest before the lifeless body slithered to the ground. The staff wielder charged an ice spell and fired in into the darkness several times. Then it stopped. It tilted it's head and listened closely to the silence.

Another arrow shot from the shadow. The creature quickly ducked, cast a cloud of spinning ice around itself and leaped into the darkness with a bone chilling battle cry. A few noises of metal hitting metal were heard in quick succession. Brelyna stared into the general direction of the invisible scene. Finally the noises stopped and the head of the creature flew out of the dark corner, hit the floor and rolled out of view. Brelyna had followed it with her eyes but was now looking back into the darkness.

Another creature emerged, a different creature all together. A Dunmer woman in badly stitched together hide armor that seemed to be self made. A bloodied iron sword in one hand, a hunting bow in the other, dust and drops of blood all over her face and clothing. Wild, uneven black hair that was cut off just above the shoulder. Cut off by a blade, not scissors by the looks of it. A scar on her cheek and lip.

She stepped closer to the dead bodies she had just produced and took a knee beside one of them. She lay down her sword and took the Falmer weapon. Upon feeling it's weight and the sharpness of its blade, she sheathed it, leaving her old sword on the ground.

She was a savage. Dirty, unrefined, uncivilized. She was the most beautiful woman Brelyna had ever seen. Her heart was pounding, but it wasn't from fear any more. Well it was from fear but a different kind. Or maybe the same kind. Brelyna found it all very confusing. "Um... hello?", she hesitantly said.

The stranger stood up and looked at her.

"Would you mind?" She smiled nervously and waved with her restrained hands as best she could.

The stranger stepped closer to the table and looked down onto her. She pondered a moment.

"Please?"

Finally the stranger produced a dagger from her belt and began to hit the locks until they broke open, one after the other. Brelyna sat up and rubbed her aching wrists.

The stranger stuck the dagger back into her belt and looked down onto the table. She looked back up and grabbed Brelyna's chin to turn her head to the side. Brelyna wanted to say a great many things, her mind was overloaded by a thousand questions. So many it left her speechless. So she just stared silently at her savior, eyes wide open like a five year old that is seeing the stars for the first time.

The stranger let go of her chin, took a bandage out of a pouch on her back and quickly wrapped it around Brelyna's head, covering the wound. Who was this woman? Why did she feel so incredibly safe when this stranger's hands were touching her face? Was she in shock? Was it the adrenalin and the near death experience? She was covered in dust, sweat and Falmer blood. How in Oblivion could she smell that nice?! Why was this all so confusing?! A thousand questions and all she could do is stare. The world stood still for a moment while Brelyna's head was carefully bandaged. She just stared into her savior's focused, task driven eyes, her heartbeat slowing down, her breaths becoming longer and deeper, the various noises from all around her fading away. Finally the stranger finished the bandage. A moment of silence, the stranger seemed to size her up.

' _Azura_!' Brelyna thought _'She is expecting me to say something, isn't she! Um... um... damnit_!' After another moment of awkward staring had passed the stranger looked into a dark corner of the room. ' _She is going to leave, Brelyna, say something, anything_!' The stranger looked back at her. Brelyna took a deep breath. "Sooooo... is... is this really how you smell?"

And with that the stranger turned away and headed back into the shadow she came from.

Brelyna closed her eyes and shook her head. A thousand questions she had and what did she ask? "Stupid stupid stupid!" Brelyna jumped off the table and ran after her. "Wait!"


	3. Daylight

**Chapter 3: Daylight**

The stranger stayed low as she moved through the dark caves, her bow already drawn. As the corridor opened up she stopped, her eyes firmly locked on the Falmer on the opposite end on the room. It was busy carving the shell off a big insect like creature, the stranger held her breath. It hadn't noticed her. She carefully reached for the quiver on her back, slowly removing an arrow. As she tightened the string and took aim, she held her breath again as the world around her was reduced to the bow in her hands and the target ahead.

"Hey! Wait!", a loud whisper from behind.

The stranger flinched ever so slightly as she let go of the arrow. It flew straight across the room, missing the Falmer's head by a hair and shattering on the rocky wall behind it. It turned around and growled aggressively into the direction the arrow came from. The stranger angrily looked back over her shoulder.

Realizing what she had done, Brelyna put both her hands on her mouth. "Fowwy!"

The Falmer grunted again and began moving into their direction.

The stranger turned back around, dropped the bow and ran out into the room. As she rushed towards the Falmer, she grabbed her sword and raised it over her head with both hands. The Falmer heard her closing in and struck out for a swing to hit when she arrived. But the stranger jumped into the air while still a couple of meters away from him and brought her sword down upon the Falmer's head, splitting it in half right down to the neck.

She stopped moving and looked towards the opposite exit as the sword fell from the lifeless Falmer that was still stuck on her blade. As the sound of metal hitting rock wore off, silence returned.

She waited a second longer before putting her foot against the Falmer's chest to remove her sword. She quickly went back to where Brelyna was still crouching with both her hands over her mouth and widely opened eyes. She wasn't scared of the Falmer as much as she dreaded the wrath of her savior. The stranger crouched as well, looked her sternly in the eyes and put an index finger over her mouth. "Shhh!" With that she grabbed her bow and left for the opposite exit.

"That doesn't mean I'm supposed to leave you alone, does it?!", Brelyna asked after her.

The stranger didn't react, just disappeared in the shadow of the narrow tunnel ahead.

"I guess not." Brelyna got up and followed.

After a few twists and turns the tunnel opened up yet again, a bigger cave this time, there was hardly any light. The stranger remained at the tunnel exit and tried to make out the dark shapes as Brelyna caught up with her. After a moment she realized that she could be of help. "Oh! OH!", she burst out excitedly.

The stranger quickly turned around and looked at her with the same angry look, a split second later both her hands went up to cover her mouth again. Her right hand however left that position soon after to charge up a white glowing ball of light. The stranger's eyes were used to the dark so she shielded them with one hand as the bright orb flew past her and started to hover in the air in the middle of the cave.

As the cave was illuminated, both of them moved back into the tunnel a little to find cover. Five huts were built closely together at one end of the hall, makeshift wooden fences that looked like animal pens had been put up at the other. The stranger put an arrow into her bow, pulled the string tightly to her and slowly started to scan the room, her arrow pointing at whatever she was looking at. The inhabitants weren't there.

She relaxed her drawing arm and put the arrow back into its quiver. After quietly approaching the huts to make sure they were empty, the stranger got up from her crouching position, Brelyna did the same.

As the magelight dissipated, the stranger gave Brelyna a nudge as if to say 'do that again'. Brelyna sent another bright ball of light flying to the center of the room.

A trail of blood caught the stranger's eye. They followed it from the huts to one of the animal pens. They were all devoid of life, yet filled with blue glowing eggs, a good lot of them. The trail led to a dead Nord in the pen, his gut slit open, his insides chewed upon. The stranger gasped audibly and rushed over the waist high wooden fence. Brelyna stayed outside as she watched her kneel down and hastily check the body for signs of life, slapping him in the face, pounding on his chest, giving off whimpers every time her fist hit the lifeless body.

Brelyna put her hands onto the fence. "Were you close?", she asked with a sympathetic tone in her voice.

The stranger looked at her with pain in her eyes. She stood up, unsheathed her sword and brought it down with an agony filled scream, chopping the dead man's head clean off. Her scream echoed a while longer through the large chamber.

Brelyna removed her hands from the fence and backed off.

The stranger was kneeling motionlessly in front of the now decapitated corpse, her eyes closed, a tear running down her cheek.

Brelyna didn't know what to do. Part of her wanted to turn tail and flee right that second. Part of her wanted to know what that pain was and if she could ease it. "Fight or flight, Brelyna.", she whispered, "What's it going to be?". Her internal debate was interrupted by faint echoes of Falmer noises. She looked around to try to pinpoint which of the three tunnels leading to the chamber they were coming from. It was more than one, actually it was more than five, actually it was too many to estimate a number. She couldn't make out a definitive direction. "Definitely flight."

"Um... hello?" Brelyna had approached the fence again as the echoes grew louder. The stranger opened her eyes and looked at her. "Do you hear that? I think you woke them all up." The stranger looked back at the corpse. "We should probably leave? Probably?"

The stranger began checking the dead man's pockets as the mass of Falmer closed in more and more.

"I really don't think there's time for that." Brelyna started moving backwards towards the tunnel from which they entered. Finally the stranger found a small leather-bound notebook.

And then, like ants from a hive you accidentally stepped on, Falmer began pouring into the chamber from the opposite entrance. The stranger looked up and quickly ran towards Brelyna, who started running as soon as she was caught up to.

The tunnel was a bottleneck. The masses of Falmer were moving through in rows of two or three, sometimes franticly climbing over each other.

The Dunmer were moving backwards, looking at them. The stranger had her sword drawn, parrying the occasional thrust of the Falmer in front, occasionally killing one, making the rest climb over the corpse.

Brelyna kept checking over her shoulder to see where they were going. "I don't think this is where we came from! We should have left this tunnel by now!"

The stranger kept her focus firmly on the wall of Falmer that moved with them not more than a meter away. She whistled loudly to get Brelyna's attention. She pointed at the dagger on her belt, signaling her to grab it and help keep them at bay.

"Oh nonononono, I am no good with those kinds of things..."

The stranger parried another Falmer blow, then another one, then thrust forward to kill that excited Falmer that couldn't keep it's sword to itself. Then she pointed again at her dagger with an even angrier look on her face.

"I know nothing about sharp things!"

In resignation the stranger turned back to the task at hand as they were still moving backwards through the meandering tunnel.

"But there is something I know a little bit about." Brelyna's fearful facial expression relaxed as she tried to focus. The bandage on her head had slipped down, she removed it to not be distracted. "It's all in the shoulder, Brelyna."

The stranger looked at her with confusion, still blocking the occasional Falmer blow.

Brelyna's right hand began to emit an orange glow as she moved it back as if she was preparing to throw an invisible object. As she thrust her hand forward, fire erupted, shooting towards the Falmer, setting the first couple of them aflame. The eruption was over in under a second.

The Falmer stumbled and fell, burning, screaming, stopping the approach of the entire group as they tried to figure out how to get over the flames.

The stranger stopped and looked at the chaos unfold. Then she looked at the young mage at her side who looked back at her with an uncertain smile. She gave her a quick pat on the back then turned around and ran the opposite direction, Brelyna followed.

They reached a crossing in the tunnel, three openings besides the one they came from.

"I think...", Brelyna was out of breath, "...I think we are lost..."

The floor rumbled and masses of Falmer appeared squeezing through the tunnel on their left, having the both of them instantly run into the one to their right. Yet again they closed in so fast they had to turn around to fight them off, walking backwards.

The stranger looked at Brelyna expecting another show of fire.

The mage focused and cast fourth another ray of flames, which this time hit a greenish blue shield that appeared in front of the enemy as soon as the fire reached them.

The Falmer had moved one of their mages to the front.

"That is a ward!" Brelyna remembered her first lesson at the college, it seemed ages ago. She also remembered Master Tolfdir saying that you had to keep it up as long as you are hit. So it was ultimately a battle of will. A matter of who could keep their spell up longer.

She fired. This time it wasn't over quickly, instead she focused hard to keep the flames running, continuously hitting the ward the Falmer mage had cast. The Falmer slowed down but so did Brelyna as they had to concentrate to sustain their spells.

The stranger relaxed her stance realizing that no swords would come their way for the time being.

The temperature in the tunnel rose significantly, pearls of sweat formed on Brelyna's forehead. "I can't keep this up forever you know!" She looked to her side, then over her shoulder, then quickly back forward to not lose control. "I don't believe this!"

The stranger had vanished.

"She left me here!" She kept slowly moving backwards, her face showing signs of pain and exhaustion as she reached for her last reserves of strength. She knew she would be cut down the second she let the spell go. "Azura, this is hot..." Had she been anything other than Dunmer, her hands would have already been burnt to a crisp.

She saw the masses of monstrous faces behind the yellow flickering that streamed from her extended hands. Sweat was streaming down her face, she stopped moving. Too weak to keep standing, she fell to one knee, her hands still extended, spewing fire, the Falmer still not daring to move past the ward in front of them. She was breathing deeply and quickly, everything became a blur. She squeezed her eyes shut and quickly opened them again to try and get her vision straight. Just faces of terror, screaming at her unintelligibly. "Maybe I should just... lay down... for a minute..."

The flames stopped as she got violently pulled to the side and vanished into a narrow chasm in the tunnel wall.

"You came back!" She was grinning at the stranger as she leaned against the rocky wall.

The stranger held her upright, realizing the toll the spell had taken on her. She threw Brelyna's arm over her shoulder to keep her upright as they were moving through cracks in the rock until finally reaching a corridor.

A properly built corridor this time, walls of brick and gold, ancient but still very much standing. They began moving towards a golden door at the end of the corridor as noises from the other side indicated that they wouldn't be alone for long. As they reached it the Falmer were already spilling out of the shadows.

The stranger pushed the heavy door open with her right arm as her left was still holding Brelyna up.

Once inside she put her down beside the door and began to close it up as the Falmer horde rushed towards them. There was no lock on the door so she pulled the dagger from her belt, shoved it under the door and kicked it until it wouldn't move. Then she turned around, leaned against the door and finally slid down to the ground. A loud metallic knock let them know the Falmer had reached the door. A knock that was followed by many more as they tried to break it down.

The stranger looked at Brelyna who's hands covered her face as she tried to recuperate.

Finally she opened her eyes and looked around. It was a small room with a single door, the one that constantly shook under the impact of Falmer weapons trying to break it. Ancient furniture and dinnerware was still around, covered in thick layers of dust.

"Oh this is a Dwemer ruin!", she said, letting her arms fall to her side. "One of my teachers is obsessed with them." As she examined the room, she took note of the fact that there was only one door yet again. "Um... so what's the plan?"

The stranger looked to the ground in front of her.

"There is a plan right? Another exit?"

The stranger slowly shook her head.

"...dead end?", Brelyna asked hesitantly.

The stranger now looked her in the eye. Didn't shake her head this time.

Brelyna closed her eyes.

"This is the third time today that I have to come to terms with the end!", she said with anger. "The THIRD time! And I don't want to die!" She looked at the ceiling. "Stop teasing!"

The stranger looked at her with surprise. "My name is Brelyna. What's yours?"

No reply, just a continuous stare of bewilderment and fascination.

Brelyna usually wasn't this straight forward. Maybe it was the heat, the imminent death or the exhaustion or whatever, she didn't care anymore. "If we are going to die here, together, least you could do is tell me your name."

With that a particularly loud knock shook the door, Falmer screaming at the other side.

"Well?" The anger in her voice had given way to fear. She was almost pleading.

The stranger suddenly jumped back to her feet and started scanning the room. With purpose she walked to the opposite wall. She listened, then moved along the wall a few steps, then listened again.

"What?" Brelyna looked at her, then the ever more violently shaking door, then back at her. "What are you doing?!"

"Shh!", was the short reply.

Brelyna shrugged in resignation and let her head fall onto her knees.

The stranger stopped and began to closely examine the segment of wall she looked at. She blew some air at it, revealing an old crack. It was running up and down, left and right, something heavy must have hit the wall a long time ago. She smeared a drop of Falmer blood off her clothing and made a red mark on the wall where all the cracks converged before turning around and moving as far away as possible, drawing her sword on the way.

She turned back around, facing the crack and held the sword at her hip, pointing forward. She gave off a short aggressive scream and began to charge the wall full speed until embedding the blade halfway into it.

Brelyna looked back up, realizing what was going on.

The stranger grabbed hold of the sword handle with both hands and started to bend it left to right, then right to left, then left to right again. She threw her entire body weight into it, giving off noises of exertion with each movement.

"Look at her arms...", Brelyna whispered faintly, "Those are nice arms to have..."

Finally the cracks began to extend slowly, dust falling out of them. The stranger looked up with hope in her eyes, almost as if she hadn't expected this to work. Reinvigorated she threw herself back onto the sword handle, left to right, right to left, the cracks widening further, until she found herself on the floor with the broken sword in hand. It had snapped clean off in the wall. She got back up and examined the problem. The bit she was holding was neither long nor pointy, she wouldn't be able to get it back into the wall. She threw it across the room in frustration. Then she looked at Brelyna.

"What?" She had been daydreaming, but the stranger's stern look interrupted her. Had she smiled? Inappropriately? She felt like she was caught doing something embarrassing. "I... I was just looking!"

The stranger moved towards her at a brisk pace, she braced for impact. She was picked up and led over to the wall. Her legs still wouldn't support her weight so the stranger held her upright. She was moved close to the wall. "Shh."

Brelyna listened. "Is that... water?"

The stranger didn't answer but instead led her to the opposite wall and pointed at the center of the crack. "What am I supposed to do about that? I can hardly stand!"

The stranger took an arrow out of her quiver and threw it at the wall like a dart. Then she nodded at Brelyna.

"I told you, I'm not good with... good with... sharp things... ohhhhh!"

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and raised her hand as it began to emit a blue glow. She moved it back and thrust it forward with all the strength she had left. A short flash of lightning hit the ground in front of the wall where a purple ball of light began to form. It extended to a half meter in diameter and then imploded, revealing a rabbit, that had been summoned. It looked confused and finally hopped away behind some furniture.

"That... that is not what I meant...to... meant to..." Brelyna collapsed onto the floor. She was dizzy, everything was twisting and turning, her breathing was erratic, the knocking sounds from the door seemed very far away. Suddenly she felt weightless, elevated, like she was flying. She turned her head and realized that the stranger had picked her up, carrying her in both her arms.

Their eyes locked, Brelyna smiled.

She felt so safe, her sweat smelled like an old library for some reason, she felt right at home. She raised a hand and pointed it at the crack in the wall. She wasn't looking, she kept eye contact with the stranger that held her. Her eyes were a very warm dark brown, very rare for a Dunmer.

She kept staring as her breathing calmed down like it had before. How did she do that?! An Ice spike formed in front of her hand and hovered there. Brelyna's eyes were wide open. She felt very awake, a lot more than she should, given the amount of mental reserves she had spent.

The stranger didn't break eye contact either. She made a quick head motion towards the wall.

In a barely visible change of gesture Brelyna released the spike which fired into the wall with tremendous speed. It hit the broken blade that was still stuck in it and pushed it further until the ice spike itself had moved halfway in.

The stranger looked at the speed and precision with which the magical projectile was cast in disbelief. The spike finally shattered in a powerful icy explosion, ripping the cracks in the wall wide open, eventually making the wall collapse.

The stranger looked back at Brelyna who was still staring at her face. A puzzled "Huh." escaped her.

A smile began to form on Brelyna's face as her eyes closed and her head fell back. The stranger shook her to get a reaction but it was no use. She had lost consciousness. The stranger looked up to the dark brown dust cloud that filled the hole in the wall and then back at the door, the hinges of which began to rattle and crumble under the constant hammering from the other side. She made sure she had a good grip of Brelyna and began to run.

The tunnel was very dark, she just followed the sound of flowing water. Eventually she reached the end of the road, a cliff in a huge naturally formed cave. An underground river was flowing far beneath her, she could see sparkles in the water. She couldn't tell how far down it was though, it was too dark. She put her ear to Brelyna's face to make sure she was still breathing. She was. A loud rumbling and angry Falmer screams behind her let her know they had broken down the door. She jumped.

It was a sunny afternoon. Butterflies were swirling around flowers, a young couple showered under the waterfall that dropped into a serene little lake. "So, um...", the young man said as he produced an Amulet of Mara.

The young woman grinned excitedly from cheek to cheek.

"As harsh as life can be in Skyrim... we'd have each other at least."

The woman opened her mouth to answer.

SPLASH! And another one. Two heavy objects had fallen into the lake from the waterfall overhead. One of them emerged shortly after, spewing water, coughing, a Dunmer woman, the couple stared at the scene in bewilderment.

The stranger hastily looked around then dove back down. She got back to the surface shortly after, dragging Brelyna to the shore, resting her on her back. She listened again to check for breathing, this time there was none. She raised her fist and started pounding down on Brelyna's chest.

The couple approached slowly.

"Can we... help you?", the man finally said.

The stranger didn't react, just kept pounding.

SPLASH! And another one. Two Falmer had jumped in behind her. One of them floated lifelessly, the other one made its way to shore.

The stranger quickly got to her feet and faced the shore. She hastily looked around for weapons. Her sword and dagger were gone, bow and quiver had been taken by the strong currents of the river, she was unarmed.

The young woman let out a short scream as the Falmer rose out of the water, the man took her hand and they ran off.

The stranger braced herself as the Falmer reached the shore, still holding its sword. It grunted and tilted it's head to the side as it slowly moved closer.

The stranger focused on its movements and got down to one knee. In the bright sunlight she could see it clearly now, it had no eyes.

She grabbed a small stone and threw it into the water.

As the Falmer turned around, she charged it, ramming her shoulder into its side. They fell and struggled, finally coming to a halt in the shallow water, the stranger on top. She held the Falmer's sword arm to the ground with her left hand and had grabbed it's neck with her right, keeping both submerged. The creature kept struggling franticly as it ran out of air, but the stranger held her pose. Finally the bubbles stopped, so did the creature's movements. The stranger let go and took in a few deep breaths.

She gasped, remembering the mage lying motionlessly on shore. She sluggishly forced herself to Brelyna on hands and knees, breathing heavily and lay down beside her, checking for breath again. Still nothing. After a couple of weak, exhausted hits to Brelyna's chest, panic sunk in on her face. In a final act of desperation she took a deep breath, pressed her lips against Brelyna's and exhaled.

SPLASH! Water erupted from Brelyna's mouth and hit the stranger in the face. The panic on her face quickly subsided as she helped her into a sitting position, holding her steady while she coughed the water out of her lungs.

Finally Brelyna began to breathe normally. She looked up into the sky as a warm sun dried the cold water off her face. She looked back and smiled upon recognizing the stranger sitting behind her. "My hero.", she said and laughed.

The stranger fell back, flat on her back, Brelyna lay back down as well. They stared up into the bright blue sky for a moment, watching white, fluffy clouds pass by slowly, until both their exhausted breathing returned to normal.

"It really is a nice sunny afternoon, isn't it.", Brelyna said after a while.

"Nephiah."

Surprised to hear the voice form a word, she turned her head to see the woman lying in the sand beside her.

She was pointing at herself. "Nephiah.", she said again.

The smirk on Brelyna's face turned into an all out grin, followed by a giggle. She turned back and looked into the sky. "Nephiah and Brelyna...", she said still smiling. "There should be a song."


	4. What You Seek

**Chapter 4: What You Seek**

It had gotten dark, the flames of the small campfire flickered calmly against the darkness of the woods. In fear of more pursuers they had left the lake as soon as they were able to walk. But it wasn't long until they had to stop and rest. They were sitting at the fire, opposite of each other, Nephiah was browsing the notebook she took from the body in the cave.

"So, um, I'm a student at the College in Winterhold."

They hadn't said a word since the lake.

Nephiah looked up at her, registering the break of silence.

"You know? Magic?", Brelyna said with an uncertain smile.

Nephiah looked back down and continued browsing impatiently.

Brelyna took a deep breath. "Ok, so, I study conjuration magic, which I still have a lot to learn about as you may have noticed. I'm not looking to raise any corpses but a flame atronach would have helped back there, right?" She smiled but got no reaction. "Um, um, my teachers found I have an aptitude for destruction magic as well so I took Faralda's classes on the side. The teachers are really nice, they don't push you or anything. They help you learn a spell and when you can cast it reliably, they move on to the next."

She paused to check for any kind of feedback, still nothing.

"You know...", she laughed, "The first week I was there, Faralda had us throw stones at straw targets in the courtyard. For an ENTIRE week! I was so frustrated at the futility of the exercise. 'Practice your throwing arms!', she said. 'The secret to destruction magic is not in the hands but in the shoulders!' I only found out what she meant a few hours ago."

Nephiah looked up again. "College?", she asked.

Brelyna nodded.

Nephiah tossed the notebook over which landed in her lap.

"Hm?" Brelyna looked at her, not sure what to do. She gestured at the book. "What am I supposed to... you can't read?"

Nephiah shook her head.

"Um, ok then, uh..." Brelyna opened the book. "It's some kind of journal." She read silently for a moment. "A thief by the looks of it. Something about an audition in Riften going wrong and him running from the guards. He hid in that cave eventually. The last paragraph is about how he regretted going in there and how he should have tried to find a man named Siegalf at the Nightgate Inn."

Nephiah jumped to her feet, walked around the fire and sat down beside Brelyna who looked at her, trying to figure her out.

"Are you looking for that man too?"

Nephiah looked into the book that lay in Brelyna's lap. "Where?", she asked.

"The Nightgate Inn? Don't look at me, I don't leave the college much."

With a frustrated moan Nephiah let herself fall on her back. However the sound of stepped upon underbrush made her jump back up quickly. She hurried to her side of the fire and grabbed the Falmer sword she had stuck into the ground.

The figure in the shadows turned out to be a Khajiit in leathery robes with a backpack and a walking stick. He approached with raised hands. "M'aiq means you no harm, strangers.", he said in a calm voice. "He only seeks the warmth of the fire in this cold night."

Nephiah went into a firm defensive stance as he continued to approach.

"Nephiah?" Brelyna had stood up as well and extended one hand to Nephiah and one to the cat, who had subsequently stopped moving.

"Nephiah!" Her companion nervously looked at her and then at the Khajiit. "He is no danger to us! Right?" She looked at M'aiq, he shook his head. "Plenty of room by the fire, yes?"

Reluctantly Nephiah relaxed her stance and let the man approach and sit, so did Brelyna and eventually she herself. She kept her sword in her lap this time.

"So what brings you out this way?", Brelyna inquired after a moment.

"M'aiq is a wanderer of the world. He sees. He listens. What about you?"

"Us? We, well, we..." She stopped and looked at Nephiah who kept watching the cat closely. "Actually we are on our way to the Nightgate Inn but we got a little lost. You wouldn't happen to know how far that is?"

"Yes, M'aiq knows where it is." He looked at Nephiah, then at Brelyna, sizing up both of them. "But what you seek you will not find there."

The Dunmer looked at each other, puzzled at the cryptic response." "Um, ok?", Brelyna continued, "Could you tell us where to go?"

M'aiq drew a few lines on the ground. "This is here." He pointed at an X. "Go many steps to the north. M'iaq has fur. You need fur."

Nephiah got to her feet.

"You're not serious, are you?" Brelyna looked at her in disbelief. "You want to go NOW? Can we maybe sleep a little while? It's been a really long day!"

Nephiah sheathed her sword and looked at the drawing again.

M'aiq kept sitting with crossed legs. He looked up at her, then over to Brelyna who moaned as she got to her feet.

"You don't have to go, you know."

"What, do you mean me?", she asked absentmindedly whilst brushing dust off her college robes.

He looked back up at Nephiah. "M'aiq has seen many things. Heard many stories. He has heard your story as well."

The flames flickered up as a bit of wind blew through the trees. They looked deeply into each other's eyes.

Brelyna stood apart from them, trying to understand what those two seemed to know.

"They say that if you embark on a journey of revenge, you should dig two graves. Are you prepared for that?"

Nephiah got down on one knee, grabbed M'aiq's coat by the collar and pulled him close to her face. You could see the barely contained fury in her eyes. "I will dig more than two."

She pushed him away so that he almost fell backwards, got up and headed into the woods.

"Wait!" Brelyna ran a few steps then stopped and looked back. "Sorry!", she said.

M'aiq turned his head to speak over his shoulder, not looking at her. "Where you are going, you will not find what you seek, young one."

Brelyna moaned at the repeated cryptic message and began to follow Nephiah. "All I seek is a soft bed!", she said disappearing in the darkness.

M'aiq held his hands to the fire. "Yes...", he said now completely by himself. "I suppose you will need more than two."


	5. The Room Filled With Laughter

**Chapter 5: The Room Filled With Laughter**

"DAMNIT it's cold!" They were moving slowly over a large frozen lake. Snow was falling calmly from the sky, the world around them was covered in white. They had their hands under their shoulders, rubbing their chests as neither of them was dressed for the cold weather. "DAMN that cat and his fur!" Brelyna had been cursing the weather for a while now, she really didn't like the cold.

Nephiah kept stoically walking forward. Finally, on a hill in the distance, a house became visible.

"Azura, I hope that is it."

As they got close enough to read the sign on the porch, Brelyna raised her arms in joy. "YES! Come on, let's get in! We can get some stew! And a bed!" She stopped and looked at Nephiah with big eyes. "I mean two beds. We can get TWO beds and we, and we... come on!" She ran up the steps to the door, Nephiah trotted along behind her.

The door sprung open before they reached it, revealing a crowd of people sitting at tables, talking and singing, a bard was playing, a thick atmosphere of food and ale smell burst out of the hall. The man that opened the door seemed to be drunk. "Scuse me.", he said moving past them, his hands already opening his pants. He eventually disappeared behind a tree, the door closed on its own.

"Figures.", Brelyna said. "Could have been a quiet evening. But no, it had to be filled to the roof with drunken people!" She sighed. "Let's go."

She took a step forward and reached for the door as she noticed that Nephiah had stopped dead where she stood as soon as she saw the crowd inside. "What. I'm sure they'll find a couple of seats for us."

Nephiah still didn't move.

"I know, off the top of my head I can think of 10 places I'd rather be myself. But I am cold, I am hungry and I am tired. This place can help with all of that AND it's where you wanted to go!"

Nephiah took a step backwards, still staring at the door. Brelyna stopped pushing as the noticed the expression of sheer terror on Nephiah's face. She had seen her face down a horde of monsters in a dark underground tunnel without flinching. Fear was not what she'd have expected to ever see in her. She carefully approached until she stood closely at her side. "Not a people person, huh.", she said in a soft voice. Nephiah looked her in the eyes, terrified.

"Do you see that there?" She pointed at the mountains behind the Inn. One could make out the dark silhouette of a woman far in the distance. "That is the shrine of Azura. You can see it from the roof of the college. You know what that means?"

Nephiah looked back into her eyes.

"It means I know where we are! How about we go in just a moment. Warm up, ask around for your guy and then we go meet my friends. They have a library there. It's big and quiet, I spent many days in there. It's serene. There's an Orc that's a bit of a mother hen when it comes to his inventory but he's a good man, he'll leave us in peace."

Nephiah looked at the door. She grabbed Brelyna's hand and pulled it to her.

"Ou ou ou! Not so tight!"

Nephiah let off a little.

"Ok then. Let's go."

They both took a step forward.

"Scuse me." The man had done his business and rushed past them. The door opened, laughter, chatter and song got loud, the door closed and it was silent again.

Nephiah shook her head and turned tail.

Brelyna was being dragged along by the hand and had to put her whole weight into making Nephiah stop. "Don't be afraid!" she pulled on her arm until she spun around and stumbled a step until they ran into each other. There was no space between them, Brelyna moved her head back to avoid their noses touching. Nephiah was shaking, in part from the cold, in part from fear.

Brelyna however had instantly blocked out the cold, shivered no more and was as calm as a mountain flower. 'How does she do it?!', she thought. 'This happens every time!' She smiled very softly as she looked into the eyes of what she knew to be a fierce warrior but now was but a frightened creature, pleading for refuge. She was able to drive a sword through a brick wall. Had saved her life no less than three times in one day. Yet in this very moment, she seemed so small and vulnerable, Brelyna's heart broke a little. "I'll protect you.", she said and looked Nephiah in the eye until she slowly nodded.

They closed in on the door. Nephiah squeezed Brelyna's hand as her heart beat faster and her breathing got deeper. Her free hand formed a fist. Brelyna was trying to suppress the pain in her squeezed hand. 'Damnit!', she thought, 'That is one firm grip.' She opened the door and entered.

The crowd inside didn't take much note of them as they moved through the aisles trying to find a free spot to sit upon.

Nephiah nervously looked left and right, trying to catch all the movements in the room, especially those of people who were noticing their passing.

A bench table at the wall still had a couple of open seats. Brelyna lead her friend over, sat her down and turned to go to the counter. She was stopped however as her hand was not let go.

Nephiah looked at her, her eyes begging for her to not leave her alone.

"I'm just going to talk to the man over there, get some stew. You want some stew?"

Nephiah pulled on her arm and shook her head.

She sat down, took Nephiah's other hand and put them both on the table. "Look, I'll be right over there." She pointed at the counter. "I will be back very quickly."

Nephiah loosened her grip and let Brelyna go. She formed fists and squeezed her eyes shut. Brelyna stepped away.

Nephiah focused on her breathing as the crowded room closed in on her. The man sitting to her left was pushed by another patron in friendly banter so that his shoulder briefly collided with Nephiah's. She closed her fists even harder. She looked over her shoulder to see Brelyna standing at the counter, talking to the innkeeper. Somebody said something funny, the entire room erupted in laughter, Nephiah immediately turned around, lowered her head and shut her eyes. Her breathing got faster and faster, she puffed her cheeks as suddenly she recognized a voice shouting through the echoes in the room, sending a sensation of deep terror down her spine.

 _"Little girl!", the man said in a rough voice "More ale over there!"_

 _The little girl_ _slowly began to put one foot in front of the other, trying to keep the tray in her hands steady. Four tall flagons filled with ale stood on its surface, a load much too heavy for a twelve-year-old. She moved very carefully, trying to avoid the many drunk patrons of the underground inn. Suddenly one turned around and looked her in the eye. She froze in fear. He took three flagons off the tray, leaving the last one unbalanced. It fell and shattered, the tray slithered over the wet floor._

 _"What in Oblivion?!" The man behind the counter stood up, he was furious. Nephiah immediately kneeled down and began to pick up the shards. As the man reached her, he removed a whip from his belt and let it crack over her back. "What did I tell you about spilling ale?! A flagon of ale is worth TWICE as much as you!" Another crack of the whip. Nephiah looked up at him, tears in her eyes, the look on her face silently begging him to stop. Another crack. "Did I tell you to stop cleaning?!" She looked back down and continued to pick up the pieces as the whip hit her back a few more times. "Hey!" A patron yelled. "You almost hit me with that cursed thing!" "Oh you like it!", the innkeeper yelled back. Loud laughter filled the room as he turned to sit back down behind the counter._

 _She was crawling through the mud, weeping, picking up pieces of broken pottery. Blood soaked through her rough linen robe in thin red lines. Then she heard heavy footsteps behind her that came to a halt in close proximity. She didn't dare turn around, just kept collecting flagon bits. "You know...", a terrifyingly deep voice spoke, "...now that I see you on your hands and knees..." Nephiah closed her eyes and suppressed a whimper. "I'm thinking, maybe it's time to educate you in services more suited to your talents."_

A hand reached for her shoulder and grabbed it to turn her around. Instinctively she reached for it, twisted the wrist and slammed the arm down hard on the table in front of her. "Ou ou ou! It's me! It's me!" Brelyna had been spun around like a twig and had landed with her back on the table, knocking over food and drink.

Shocked and confused Nephiah looked around the room. The music had stopped, everybody was looking at them. Subconsciously she kept pressing Brelyna's hand down as she slowly reached for her sword with her free hand. The room was filled with danger.

"Is there going to be a problem?" Two patrons stood up, wearing guard uniforms with Riften insignia on them.

"No, no, it's alright...", Brelyna said with barely contained pain in her voice. She was tapping the hand holding her down, trying to get Nephiah's attention. She was eventually looked upon by eyes that recognized the situation.

Nephiah let go and quickly put both hands back on the table surface.

Brelyna shoved herself to her feet, holding her aching wrist. "Sorry! Sorry!", she said to the room as she sat down.

Everybody got back to conversation, the guards sat down, the bard continued his song.

"What is wrong with you.", she whispered to Nephiah. "I'm a mage not an arm wrestler, you know." As she noticed her friend's tears, she leaned in further. "They had only one room available, so I took it. Want to get out of here?"

Nephiah didn't move, silent tears continuously running down her face, forming drops on her chin.

"Hey...", she said very softly and reached for her cheek.

Nephiah winced at the advance.

"Shhhh.", Brelyna said, carefully wiping a tear away. She then took her hand. "Come with me."

They stood up, went into one of the small rooms on the side and closed the door behind them.

* * *

Something should indicate when the present scene and a flashback are going to mix together to help orient the reader.


	6. Healing Magic

**Chapter 6: Healing Magic**

It was a small room, one bed, one chair, one table. The closed door dampened the sound of the festivities a fair bit. Brelyna sat her friend down on the bed.

Nephiah's head hung low, her eyes fixed on the fists in her lap that still wouldn't relax.

Brelyna sat down on the chair. "You don't like crowded rooms, huh?"

Nephiah didn't react.

"Me neither. My father used to make me go to social festivities with the other houses so he could parade me around. His master pupil." She laughed. "Was he furious when I decided to study in Winterhold. I told him I'm a Telvanni, seclusion is in my blood. 'We must change with the times', he would reply, I just wanted my peace." She looked at Nephiah who still hadn't moved. She laughed again. "Look at me rambling on about myself all the time. I swear I don't usually do that." No reaction. As she realized that conversation wouldn't do the trick, she kneeled down in front of her so she could see her face.

Hello.", she said smiling softly. "So, um, here's the thing." There was a bucket of water and a piece of cloth placed by the bed. Brelyna took the rag and submerged it in water. "When I wiped that tear away a moment ago..." She took the wet rag in both her hands and looked back up. "...I removed some of that mud along with it. So now you have a weird clean spot running down the side of your face. How about we take care of that." She moved the rag towards Nephiah's face.

Its trajectory was quickly changed by Nephiah's forearm moving it out of the way. She put both feet on the bed and backed up until she hit the wall. "Hey... it's me, remember? Brelyna? Your magical friend?"

Nephiah looked at the door, then back at her as she was gesturing for her to come back forward. Reluctantly she followed the invitation.

Brelyna began to carefully wipe off layers of dust and mud, cleaning the rag in the bucket periodically. She got a good look at the scar on her right cheek and chin, it must have been a deep cut. She moved the rag below her chin and continued the procedure on the neck.

Nephiah stared at her, shocked at the act of kindness, as if she had never experienced something like this before. Her hands so soft, her touch so gentle. While she had flinched a couple of times in the beginning, she didn't move anymore, except when Brelyna's hands were requiring access to another dirty spot.

"How about we do all the sticky outy bits?"

Nephiah slowly nodded, still staring like she had seen a ghost.

Brelyna moved on to the left arm. Scars there as well. The armour was roughly stitched together from animal hides, there were many places it didn't quite cover. She noticed that scars and burn marks were all over. 'Azura...', she thought to herself. 'What happened to you?' She reached the fur glove. "Is it ok, if I take that off?" She looked up at Nephiah who slowly nodded yet again. She took off the leather strips that bound it together one by one and slowly pulled it off the arm.

Brelyna gasped as she revealed a brand mark forming the word 'slave'. It was stretched over the back of her strong hand, which must have been a lot smaller when the branding was applied. As she moved the cloth over it, Nephiah audibly sucked in air through her teeth. Brelyna stopped right away. "Does this hurt?" She nodded, quickly this time. She moved the rag around it with great care, she didn't want to cause more discomfort to this creature that had been wounded so in the past. In this very moment she wished she had taken up restoration magic instead.

Eventually Brelyna finished and put the rag in her lap. "Now what?"

Nephiah shrugged.

"Want to keep going?", she giggled.

Nephiah nodded.

"What, really?"

Another nod.

"I was joking you know."

Nephiah kept staring at her.

After a moment of uncertainty Brelyna moved up and slowly began to loosen the pieces of leather that held up the shoulder pieces. Their faces got close together as she reached for the ones on the back, their eyes never losing contact. Suddenly a swirl of laughter broke through the door from the hall beyond it. Nephiah immediately looked at the exit, the expression of terror back on her face. Realizing what was going on, Brelyna quickly took Nephiah's face in both her hands and turned it to her. Big, fearful eyes looked back at her. Uncertain what to do, she made a split second decision and pressed her lips against Nephiah's. Both their eyes closed instantly as the noises around them fell away until the only sound they heard was the slow, comforting heartbeat of their opposite.

As their lips disconnected and their eyes opened, Brelyna smirked and bit her lower lip. "I had a hunch you were a great kisser."

Nephiah moved her head forward until their nose tips touched. "More?", Brelyna giggled. She moved her hands down to Nephiah's shoulders, put her down on her side and lay down beside her. "I swear I asked for two beds." She was still giggling.

Nephiah still staring at her with deep fascination.

"You don't have any idea what I'm talking about, do you." She smiled, taking in the calm that always came with closeness to her, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Their lips touched again and for an instant, there was no pain, no doubt, no cold.

Then Nephiah stopped. Brelyna opened her eyes and moved her head back. "Nephiah?" She gently shook her shoulder. "Nephiah."

A faint snoring noise was heard.

"Oh that's just great." Frustrated, she let herself fall on her back, not realizing that she was lying on the edge of the bed. She fell to the ground with flailing arms and a short-surprised scream. Immediately she pushed herself back up to check on Nephiah. Still sleeping. She pulled herself onto the chair and observed Nephiah's calm breathing for a moment.

"Brelyna...", she sighed. "What are you doing?"


	7. The Girl Who Wasn't There

**Chapter 7: The Girl Who Wasn't There**

 _Darkness. The heavy door swung open, filling the empty room with weak light from the torches in the corridor. The giant Nord effortlessly threw Nephiah in. She crash landed on the rough wooden floor. It hurt a lot for her hands were tied behind her back and she couldn't use them to break the fall. She cried, she was hurting all over and just wanted to go home and see her parents. The fact that that is something she would never be able to do again had not yet taken hold._

 _Then a Bosmer boy was thrown in after her._

 _The man turned to his side. "Hey, Siegalf! What are we supposed to do with them?", he said in a deep voice._

 _Another man was standing behind him, examining the contents of a coin purse he held. "I don't know. The boss thinks there's people who will pay good coin for slaves. We made away with a month's worth of food from that raid, I don't think this is worth the hassle."_

 _"Let's go ask him then."_

 _The door was shut and locked, darkness again. Darkness, filled only with the crying of children._

 _The heavy door swung open. Both Nephiah and the boy shielded their eyes from the sudden light that they hadn't seen in hours._

 _A bearded man in a hooded robe stood in the doorway, his face shrouded in shadow. "Just those two?", he inquired._

 _The two men from earlier were standing behind them._

 _"You said to take the children and kill everybody else.", said the giant._

 _"Adults are just infinitely harder to train.", replied the hood, "There will be more."_

 _"Train them?", Siegalf said, "Not even my dog will listen to me."_

 _The hooded man turned to him. "Yes, my simple friend, we shall leave that to minds more suited to the task. Send Frokwulf to my room, will you."_

 _He turned away and left._

 _"Frokwulf...", the giant shuddered, "...that sadistic bastard." He let go of the door he was holding open which then fell into the lock on its own._

 _Nephiah could still make out what they were saying._

 _"You know what he did yesterday? He hacked off a farmer's hands and feet and had him crawl to his wife. Only to slit her throat shortly before he arrived."_

 _"Yes, he has always been creative when it came to killing. Just stay clear of him."_

 _"You're supposed to run them through or take their head off, this is just not right..." Then they had moved too far away to be understood._

 _"Are you there?", the boy whispered._

 _"Yes."_

 _"What's your name?"_

 _"Nephiah."_

 _"I am Arlan. What do you think they'll do?"_

 _"Something terrible..."_

 _"My mother told me that all life is connected and that if you hurt someone, you only hurt yourself."_

 _"Where is your mother now?"_

 _Then silence._

 _The heavy door swung open. A man holding a torch entered and began walking along the walls, lighting dry torches, illuminating the room. The children curled up and squeezed their eyes shut._

 _He kneeled down, grabbed Nephiah's chin and ungently turned her face towards him. "Pretty eyes.", he said in an unsettling way. He stood back up and walked back to the door._

 _The hooded man had entered behind him._

 _In the light his long black beard could be seen. "I'll train them for you. But I want that one for myself." He pointed at Nephiah._

 _"That's an Elf. Those are particularly valuable." the hooded man replied._

 _"I know. I will train her as an example. Then I will show you what I can do. Then I will train any others you bring me. And I keep that one for myself."_

 _The hooded man looked over to Nephiah, a curled up ball of despair. "How about you show me what you can do, and then we'll talk again."_

 _"Sounds like we have a deal." The hooded man left the room._

 _"My name is Frokwulf. We are going to get to know each other very well." With that he left as well, slamming the door shut behind him._

 _The children looked at each other with fearful eyes. Their hands were still tied behind their backs. "What should we do?", Arlan whispered._

 _Nephiah scanned the room. There was a pile of straw in one corner and an empty bucket in the other, the room was practically empty._

 _She shoved herself over and turned so her back was facing him. "Can you reach those ropes?", she asked._

 _Arlan immediately rolled over so their hands touched. He worked his way up until he found the binds._

 _The heavy door swung open. "Now now now." The children's hearts nearly stopped as Frokwulf stepped into the room at a menacingly slow pace. "Bit of a defiant spirit, are you_ _?_ _We will have to address that."_

 _He closed the door, walked over and took out an iron dagger. They looked at him in terror as he slowly kneeled down. A fearful sque_ _a_ _k escaped Nephiah as the dagger closed in on her hands, only to find the ropes had been cut. Then Arlan's._

 _"Now." Frokwolf grabbed them both by the collar of their clothes and pulled them to their feet. "Let me explain to you the reality you find yourselves in."_

 _The children rubbed their aching wrists as they stared at the bald man with the black beard that towered over them._

 _"Your parents are dead. You will not see them again. Your homes have been burned down. You will not see them again. Your lives have ended."_

 _Arlan lowered his head and began to whimper agai_ _n_ _, Nephiah was still frozen in fear, staring at him._

 _"And since your lives have ended, that means you don't exist." He got down to one knee. "And things that don't exist don't feel pain. They are invisible and they make no sound. So this..." He grabbed Arlan's chin and made him look into his eyes. "...is the last time I hear you cry."_

 _He stood up again. While his tone of voice was eerily calm until now, his words turned to a more commanding tone. "From now on you will follow a very simple set of rules. Do what I say, when I say it. You do not want, you do not desire, you do not dream. You will not speak to anyone unless I allow it. You will make no sound, no scream, no whimper. You will eat and sleep only if I allow it. Disobey and you will be punished. Nod your heads if I am understood."_

 _They both nodded._

 _Frokwulf_ _'_ _s back hand hit Arlan across the face with enough force to send him to the floor. "I can still hear you!", he suddenly yelled aggressively._

 _Nephiah gasped audibly as the violence startled her._

 _Frokwulf instantly turned to look at her._

 _Expecting another hit, she backed away a little._

 _"Understand what you are.", he said now calm again. "We will continue later."_

 _He walked to the door and opened it. He picked up two ragged robes from behind it and threw it in front of his captives. "When I come back you are wearing those. If I find you asleep, you will be punished. Cry now, little boy. When I return you will be silent."_

 _The heavy door slammed shut._

 _A moment passed until Nephiah dared to move. She looked at Arlan who was curled up on the floor, weeping quietly. She hesitantly walked up to the roughly stitched together pieces of linen wrap and picked them up. Then she walked up to the boy and sat down. She carefully put her hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"_

 _Arlan immediately turned around and hugged her, desperate for comfort. "I want to go home!", he said with a quivering voice._

 _Nephiah leaned into his embrace. "Me too..."_

 _The heavy door swung open. As Frokwulf stepped through the door, he found the clothes the children were brought in lying at his feet. He tossed them into the hall and closed the door._

 _The children were sitting in the far corner of the empty room, huddled together, now wearing the linen cloth. He took a step forward and presented the broom and the whip he held in his left hand. With his right, he pointed to the middle of the room._

 _"Stand there.", he said._

 _They hesitated._

 _"NOW!", he yelled._

 _They quickly got up and moved to the indicated spot._

 _He pointed at the wall behind them._

 _"Stand there."_

 _They looked at the wall behind them then back at him, unsure of what he wanted._

 _"MOVE TO THAT WALL!"_

 _They quickly walked backwards, Arlan grabbed Nephiah's hand. He pointed at the center of the room._

 _"Stand there." With every command of his, they were more and more terrified of what was to come. They moved back to the middle._

 _"See how easy this is. You don't need to know why you are doing what I say. The why is because I say it. Anything beyond that is of no interest to you."_

 _He handed the broom to Arlan and pointed back at the wall. "Clean up that spot."_

 _Arlan looked at Nephian as he turned around to tend to his assignment. The broom was adult sized, it's handle towering over his head as he slowly moved it across the floor._

 _Frokwulf handed the whip to Nephiah_ _._

 _S_ _he hesitated._

 _"Take it."_

 _She looked over her shoulder, Arlan's back was turned. The back of Frokwulf's hand hit her hard across the face, she landed on her hands and knees. She looked up at him with pain in her eyes._

 _"Not a single sound."_

 _She pressed her lips together._

 _Then he handed her the whip again. "Take it."_

 _She got up and complied. "Have you learned to count?"_

 _She nodded._

 _"You will strike him ten times."_

 _Arlan turned around._

 _"Back to work!" Frokwolf yelled. "And if I hear so much as a whimper it will be me who is holding the whip, not her!"_

 _He looked back at Nephiah._

 _"Ten times."_

 _She looked at Arlan, she could hear his fast, scared breathing._

 _"Disobey, you don't get the whip. You get the broom."_

 _Tears filled her eyes as she slowly turned and made a first tiny step towards the wall._

 _"He doesn't exist.", Frokwulf said. "You cannot hurt him."_

 _As she reached Arlan, she could hear he had trouble staying quiet, he was so afraid. She couldn't do it. She pressed her lips together and turned around to face Frokwulf. The whip dropped to the floor._

 _In an instant, Frokwulf left his calm stance and rushed towards them. He grabbed Nephiah's head, threw her to the ground and took the broom away from Arlan. Then he brought the broom down upon her back. She cried out in pain. Frokwulf began to shout. "You don't exist! You don't feel pain! You don't want! You obey!" The wooden handle came down again and again with every command he yelled._

 _Arlan threw himself at Frokwolf's stong arm, attempting to stop him._

 _He quickly found himself dangling in the air as the arm was raised._

 _Frokwulf tossed the broom away and grabbed the boy by the neck. "Oh I see."_

 _He raised him up as far as he could, then slammed him down onto the ground, making the wooden floor boards shake. He was on his back next to Nephiah who was lying on her stomach, looking at him._

 _"There is nothing for you to protect, nothing to protect you." Frokwulf squeezed his hand tight until he heard a snap._

 _Arlan stopped moving._

 _"Doesn't exist.", Frokwulf said._

 _Nephiah cried out one final time._

 _He got up and left them both were they were._

 _Nephiah quietly stared at Arlan, her tears dripping onto the dirty floor. "If I find you asleep when I return, you will be punished." The heavy door slammed shut._

Nephiah let off a short scream as she awoke and jumped from a lying into a sitting position, pushing herself back with her feet until her back hit the wall. She hastily looked around to get her bearings.

Brelyna had fallen asleep in the chair, resting her head on the small table next to it. The noise woke her. "What... what's going on..."

Nephiah got up and walked to the door. She opened it a just a bit and peeked the into the hall. It was empty, the festivities had ended. She pushed the door open the rest of the way.

The innkeeper was still up, cleaning the counter.

Nephiah turned back and signaled Brelyna to follow. "Ugh... it's much too early..." Nephiah took the bandit's notebook out of her pouch and signaled her again. "I'm coming, I'm coming..."

Brelyna pushed herself out of the chair and joined Nephiah who had already reached the counter.

"Need anything?", the innkeeper inquired.

Nephiah looked at her friend, expecting her to answer.

"Hm?" Still in the process of waking up, Brelyna looked at her in dazed confusion. "Oh, me? You can talk, I've seen you do it!"

Nephiah nodded at her, reinforcing her request.

"Oh fine." She looked at the innkeeper and put on a polite smile. "Hello. We were wondering if you could help us find someone."

"Sure, if I can help." He stopped cleaning and leaned against the counter.

"We are looking for a man named Siegalf." The innkeeper didn't move for a moment, as if he was thinking about his reply. "Never heard of him."

Brelyna looked at her companion whose face slowly changed from curious to angry.

"That's odd. You see..." She took the notebook out of Nephiah's hand and opened it. After a moment of browsing she turned it to the innkeeper and pointed at a text passage. "See here? This man was going to come here to look for him. He specifically mentioned the Nightgate Inn."

The innkeeper detached himself from the counter and started cleaning it again. "I don't know what to tell you. I don't know who that is."

"Never overheard anybody mentioning him?"

"Listen, Elf, I have many guests and I don't meddle in their business. I just provide food and a bed for anyone who can pay."

Nephiah grabbed the hand with which he was sweeping, took a knife from the counter and rammed it through both his hand and the cleaning cloth below it, nailing both securely to the counter's surface. The move was over in an instant, the innkeeper screamed in pain and surprise.

In a reflex action Brelyna stepped back. Shocked she looked at Nephiah who was still holding the knife handle, pressing it down. "What are you doing?!"

"ARGH! Tell your crazy friend to let go!"

He was trying to remove her fist from the knife with his free hand.

Another nod let Brelyna know she was supposed to continue the interrogation. After a moment of hesitation she hastily stepped back up. "Please, I only met her very recently, I am still figuring things out myself! Just tell us what we want to know!"

"By the nine! I don't know anybody by that name!" He kept giving off moans as his attempts to remove Nephiah's grip remained fruitless.

"Will you let the man go?! He doesn't know anything!" She nudged Nephiah's shoulder, but she just looked the innkeeper dead in the eye.

"Problem?" Two of the other rooms had opened. The guards from earlier had spent the night and the screams had woken them. They stepped towards the counter, hands on swords, ready to draw.

They reached the counter, Brelyna raised her hands, still shocked at how quickly the situation was escalating. "We can explain!" She looked at Nephiah who had slightly turned her head and was peeking over her shoulder. "...somehow..." she added.

As the guards were looking at her, Nephiah pulled the knife out of the counter, turned and rammed it into the shoulder of the man to her right.

The second guard began to draw his sword but her fist contacted his nose before he could finish the movement. Blood burst over his mouth as he stumbled back, losing secure footing.

"Nephiah! Stop!" Brelyna tried to halt the display of violence but Nephiah didn't react. She charged the stumbling man with a lowered upper body, rammed her shoulder into his stomach and pushed him back until they hit a wall. The guard's head flung back upon impact, colliding with solid wood.

He was disoriented and didn't put up much of a fight as Nephiah stood upright, grabbed his uniform with her left and let a few powerful right hooks cross his face. He fell to the floor as she let go. She drew her sword, moved to his head and lifted her foot up.

"No! Wait!", Brelyna shouted across the room.

To no avail as the foot had already began to move on its downward trajectory. The loud crack of the skull and subsequent sound of liquid spilling on the floor made Brelyna shudder, she closed her eyes and turned away.

The sound of a small metallic object hitting the floor let Nephiah know that the first guard was back in action. He drew his sword, they ran towards each other. As they met he began attacking, she blocked his blows.

One could see that while he was a trained swordsman, she was making things up as she went.

As clumsy as it looked however, not a single one of his blows met its target. He moved forward, she moved back defensively. Focusing on her enemy's weapon she did not notice the empty ale mug on the floor behind her. Another step backwards and she found herself slipping and crashing into a table.

Lying in a pile of broken wood and dinnerware, she had no time to get her bearings as a polished steel blade rushed towards her through the cloud of brown dust. Her sword instinctively moved across her chest, stopping it from slicing her open. The sword quickly came down again and again, she did her best to survive.

"Brelyna!", she yelled eventually.

Brelyna was overtaken by terror as she realized she was being called upon to help murder a Riften town's guard. There was no time to ponder a decision, she went with her gut. "Damnit!", she shouted and thrust forth a column of fire.

The screams of pain became louder and louder as the guard realized his flesh was burning and began to run around with flailing arms. He eventually reached the door that led outside, broke through it and collapsed on the stairway in front of the inn.

"Azura..." Brelyna had a hard time processing the image.

Nephiah cumbrously pushed herself out of the debris to her feet, she looked like a drunk who had lost a bar fight. She brushed pieces of leftover food off her armour and looked around for the innkeeper.

He had been slowly moving towards the door since the fight started. He had almost reached it when the guard busted through. Their eyes met, he realized it was his turn. He ran through the open door, Nephiah instantly followed.

Brelyna looked around, still in shock at how the morning turned out. The room was filled with music and joyful banter mere hours ago. Now there was blood and mayhem everywhere. She shook her head in disbelief. Eventually she began to move and ran outside.

The sun had come up and bright white snow was glittering everywhere, it blinded her for a moment. She looked around, trying to adjust to the brightness of day. She finally found two trails of footprints in the snow and began to follow them. It didn't take long for her to know she was on the right path as she heard the innkeeper scream in the distance. She moved up a hill and saw them standing on the road behind the inn. He had not gotten far.

Nephiah's right hand held him by the throat, he had grabbed her arm to try and release some of the pressure.

"Please don't kill me!", he begged.

She pressed her lips together, lifted him up and then slammed him down onto the cobblestone road. He let loose of her arm upon hitting the ground and started coughing.

"Please... I'm not one of them!"

She moved her face down into close proximity to his, her hand still holding his throat. "One of who?", she whispered.

Brelyna had finally reached them, although she didn't dare get too close. She watched the scene from a few meters away.

"His name is Hjornskar Head-Smasher! He's stationed at a Stormcloak military camp up that road!" One could hear the fear of death in his voice. He pointed to the road leading west. "He is a giant of a man, you can't miss him!"

Nephiah closed her eyes. Anger turned to pain as she remembered a man she once knew who fit that description. "He comes here from time to time to trade supplies for his men and meet some people I don't know! I overheard him say that name a few times, that's all I know, I swear!"

Nephiah looked to the horizon in the west. She squeezed her hand tight until she heard a snap.

The innkeeper stopped moving.

She stood up and briskly walked back to the inn.

Brelyna remained in place, looking at the unarmed man that had been murdered in cold blood right in front of her. She then looked up at the mountains. In the far distance, she could see the shrine of Azura clearly now in the bright daylight against the crystal blue sky.

After a moment Nephiah re-emerged with a cloak made of bear fur around her shoulders, another one in her hand. She let it drop in front of Brelyna's feet as she passed her and continued on the road west. After a moment of walking she stopped, she didn't hear any footsteps behind her. She turned around spotting her still standing there.

Brelyna looked up at her. "What have you done?..."

Nephiah didn't react, she looked unsure as to what she meant.

Brelyna ran up to her and began to hit her chest with the bottom of her fists. "What have you done?!"

There wasn't much force behind the hits, Nephiah let it happen.

Eventually Brelyna took a step backwards, took a deep breath and wiped away a tear. Even though she hadn't had time to articulate it, she had conjured great hope for a future with Nephiah in her life. Nothing specific, just a warm feeling that had been rising steadily ever since she first laid eyes on her. And now it was gone. Hard as she tried to find it, her hope was shattered. She took another breath.

"You have just murdered three people. Two of which were guardsmen. Even worse, you made me kill one of them, making me an accomplice!"

Nephiah started breathing in deeply. She was afraid of something but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Brelyna looked at her, demanding an answer.

"No witnesses.", she uttered after a moment.

"No witnesses?! That's your response?! That's rich! Put aside the fact that a room full of people saw you behave very suspiciously last night and that it doesn't take much to put this together, you just killed innocent people!"

Nephiah looked to the ground. She was being judged, she hadn't been judged in a very long time. And this time for reasons unknown to her it hurt extensively more.

"I don't exist...", she said hesitantly after another moment of silence had passed.

"W-what?" Brelyna didn't really know what to expect but that answer took her off guard

. Nephiah looked up. "None of this is happening. Because I don't exist." Nephiah's eyes were pleading for Brelyna to understand her words, but she only gave off a short laugh, she didn't know what to answer. Nephiah looked back at her feet.

"I thought maybe we... I thought I could..." Brelyna was stumbling over her words. "Listen, obviously something very bad happened to you and I am very sorry for that. I wish I could heal your wounds, I really do." She almost sounded like she was begging her, Nephiah didn't dare look up. "But I can't! I can't do this! Take me to burn down Falmer or the Undead, sure! But this..."

The finality in her words made her voice quiver.

"The college is that way." She pointed at the road behind her. "What you want is there."

She pointed to the path behind Nephiah. "I'm going home. I'm sorry."

She took another step back. "Come with me?"

No response.

"We have sweetrolls!" Brelyna laughed at the childishness of her words. After getting no response yet again, she turned around and started walking.

As she reached the bear pelt put out for her she stopped and picked it up. She looked at the dead body and then turned to Nephiah who still was standing there without moving.

"Remember M'aiq? The cat from the campfire? He said you wouldn't find what you were looking for. I guess that makes him a liar."

Nephiah looked up, sadness in her eyes. "He was talking to you."

Brelyna displayed a sad smile as the picture became clear to her. She threw the coat over her shoulder, turned around and began her journey home.

Nephiah looked at the road behind her, the Stormcloak camp was somewhere out there. As she turned back around she realized Brelyna had gotten even farther away, only taking up a tiny fraction of her field of vision. And as the distance grew she was finally able to identify the fear she felt. She feared Brelyna would leave.

She took a step forward but stopped instantly. Certainty lay behind her, uncertainty in front of her. Eventually she was unable to tell her apart from the trees and the snow, she looked back at her feet. "Don't go."


	8. I've Put a Spell On You

**Chapter 8: I've Put a Spell On You**

"Murdering lunatic!" Brelyna had been walking on the snowy road for a while. Even though the sun was shining, it was very cold. The fur cloak helped. She had started talking to herself a while back. "Ok, let's do this rationally, let's make a list."

She reached a crossroad, one path continued the road she was on, the other led into the mountains. She had been using Azura's shrine in the distance to guide her way, she took a left turn, leaving the road.

"On the one hand, she smells like a pile of old books. I like books!"

The snow got deeper as she treaded up the path.

"On the other hand, murdering lunatic."

The wind was picking up a bit as she reached more height. "On the one hand, whenever she is close, all the chatter of doubt and uncertainty in my head is silenced. I don't know how she does it, but there it is. I mean, look at me, an hour apart and I'm back at talking to myself. STOP talking to yourself, Brelyna."

It had gotten colder, she stuck her hands under her armpits. "On the other hand, murdering lunatic! Damnit! That argument always works!"

The exertion of walking uphill in snow began to be noticeable, she stopped to take a few breaths, then trotted on. "Also, what a fighter. Saved my life three times when she didn't have to. Also, great kisser. That equals all the positives combined. The calm, the safety, and yet very exciting..."

She turned around and started to walk back the way she came.

"Murdering lunatic!"

She turned around again and continued up the path.

She reached a rock formation that formed an arc like a short tunnel through the mountain, the path led through and past it. "So this is what I'll do. I'll go back to the college and continue my studies there. They are probably already wondering where I am. I will study hard, yes. I will become a powerful mage like father wants and go back to Morrowind. And none of this is going to matter."

She stopped under the naturally formed archway. Somebody had set up camp there a while ago, there was a bedroll and a small portable shrine set up. No sign of recent activity though. "But first, I will rest here a little while." She sat down and leaned against the rocky wall. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Images began to pop into her mind, the first time Nephiah stepped out of the shadows, the bandage, her inquiring about her smell. She giggled.

Then a picture of the corpse Nephiah decapitated in the cave.

She opened her eyes and looked to the direction she just came from. Was that why she was in there? To find him?

She closed her eyes again. She remembered being held by her. How easy everything was, how there didn't seem to be a worry in the world. Her exerted breathing calmed down.

Their first kiss, she subconsciously moved a hand to her lips.

Nephiah's foot smashing the skull of the guardsman.

Her grin instantly turned to a frown. The screams of the one she set on fire, she shuddered. "I don't exist..." the words echoed in her head. "None of this is happening because I don't exist..."

"What made her believe that? She squeezed her eyes shut. "Stop thinking about it, Brelyna. It's over."

She re-opened her eyes, startled by the arrow that hit the ground right in front of her feet.

Four bandits approached, two of them had their bows pointed at her. "Move and the next one goes into you.", one of them said.

They slowly stepped closer. "We've got ourselves a college mage by the looks of it, there has got to be some coin there. See that woman with the glass bow over there?" He pointed at the bandit to his right. "She is really good with that bow. So if you want to do any magic, go right ahead. You'll be so much easier to rob once you're dead."

Brelyna froze, looking fearfully at the group.

Two arrows were primed, one to her left, one to her right, both ready to fire at any moment. A big man holding a warhammer stood confidently between them, their leader walked up and squatted down close to her. He removed a couple of ropes from his fur armour and tied her hands behind her back, then her feet.

He removed a coin purse from her bag, felt its weight and threw it over to the warhammer. "Feels like at least 200 coins in there, they give you quite an allowance, don't they."

She looked at him, he found her fear to be amusing. He ran the flat side of his steel dagger over her face, so it wouldn't cut it, but increase her fear even more. "Elves..." He looked disgusted. "I'm not much for discipline. Otherwise I'd have joined Ulfric's cause long ago." He moved the dagger up to her left ear.

He could hear the fear in her breathing.

"You know, my brother's party was wiped out by a Thalmor patrol a up in Hjalmarch. They snuck into camp in the middle of the night and stabbed them all in their sleep. If it were up to me, I would have killed all of you pointy eared vermin long ago. Might as well start with you."

A polished steel blade emerged from the snowy fog outside the archway, giving of swishing sounds with every rotation until it was implanted into the chest of one of the archers. As he let go of his bow, the arrow shot forward uncontrolled, hitting the rock above Brelyna's head.

The leader turned around. "What..."

A Falmer sword emerged from the fog in similar fashion, eventually getting stuck in the head of archer number two.

The arrow leaving the glass bow went straight through the bandit leader's shoulder, as he was still squatting close to Brelyna. After a short scream he fell to the ground and stopped moving.

The fourth bandit held on to his warhammer in a defensive stance, looking at the fog with panic.

The unclear dark shape turned to a silhouette turned to a Dark Elf charging towards him. He took a step back as he identified the danger and began to raise his hammer to intercept. But the movement was way too slow. By the time he had raised it, Nephiah had ample room to ram her shoulder into his guts and push him backwards with force, until they entered the fog beyond the exit on the archway's other side.

Brelyna looked at the whiteness, listening to sounds of struggle and exertion. Then silence. After a moment she heard heavy footsteps in the snow. Brelyna began to struggle against her ropes. But it was Nephiah rushing towards her. She kneeled down, removed her bindings and brought her to her feet. Overtaken by relief not only that her life wasn't in danger anymore but even more so that she saw Nephiah again, she embraced her tightly.

She let go after a moment and looked at her. "You came for me! What about your quest?"

Nephiah quickly moved her head forward and pressed her lips against hers.

Brelyna's eyebrows rose, her eyes closed. The fear that was present moments ago vanished as if it had never been there at all, the sounds of sharp winds blowing outside the cave faded into nothingness. As Nephiah moved her head back, she giggled.

Immediately after she opened her eyes and forced a stern expression on her face. "What about what happened at the inn?! You can't just..."

Nephiah interrupted her with another kiss.

Adrenalin levels fell, her heart rate stabilized, it didn't seem to be cold anymore. Nephiah moved her head back.

Brelyna smiled, her eyes still closed. She giggled again. "Well maybe we can figure something out." Now it was she who moved forward until their lips met. It was so peaceful there, she had trouble coming up with words for it. 'Magic' was the only one springing to mind.

Then unexpectedly there was also the feeling of thick warm liquid forming spots on her face.

She opened her eyes and looked at Nephiah who had as much surprise written on her face.

They both looked down to the tip of a steel blade that stuck out of Nephiah's chest. She plummeted to the ground revealing the bandit leader who had regained consciousness and used their distraction to plunge his dagger into Nephiah's back up to the hilt. "Skyrim belongs to the Nords!", he shouted, coughing up blood.

Tears shot into Brelyna's eyes. "No!" Without thinking she extended both her hands and let fire engulf the bandit. She screamed in anguish and didn't let up until he was reduced to a pile of ash. She finally let the flames dim and fell to her knees beside Nephiah who was lying on the ground, the snow under her becoming increasingly drenched in blood.

Nephiah reached over her shoulder until she got hold of the dagger and slowly pulled it out. Her face showed how painful it was, yet she didn't make much of a sound.

Brelyna looked around in panic, they were in the middle of nowhere. Then she looked back at the wound that was gushing out large amounts of blood.

Nephiah took her hand and lay it onto it. Her strength was fading. "Magic.", she whispered.

"I don't know any healing spells!", Brelyna cried.

Nephiah shook her head. "Fire...", she said barely audibly. "C-close the wound!"

Brelyna yelled in a surge of hope. "O-ok, listen!"

Nephiah's head fell to the side.

She turned it back to her, giving it a couple of gentle slaps. "Nephiah?! Listen! Your skin is naturally heat resistant! I will have to make it really hot! It will be painful, do you understand?!" She was yelling loudly to make sure she got through.

Nephiah nodded, removed a leather strip from her armour and bit down on it. Then she nodded again.

Brelyna reached under her and pressed her left hand against the entry wound. Her right hand she placed on the exit wound on top. She closed her eyes to focus.

Her hands began to glow, small flames began to engulf them.

Nephiah arched up in pain, biting down hard on the strip in her mouth. Again, she didn't make much noise.

As she struggled, Brelyna fought to keep her hands in place as the fire did it's work. Finally the bleeding stopped. And so did Nephia's movement. Brelyna stopped and quickly stuck her hands into the snow. A sizzling sound was heard. "Ou ou ou!" She then turned back to her patient and put her head to her chest. The heart was still beating.

She looked around. Nephiah had tossed her cloak into the snow before charging in. She picked it up and spread it out beside her unconscious friend, then she rolled her onto it. She walked to the front, grabbed the paws of the bear cloak and walked a few steps, dragging Nephiah along. "Ok... this will be a fun trip." She looked down behind her. "Hold on to something."


	9. A Perfectly Valid School

**Chapter 9: A Perfectly Valid School**

Colette crossed the Hall of Countenance, moving to the exit. It was a large round hall with sleeping alcoves for the senior mages of the college built along its wall, a blue fountain of magical light in the center. It was late, most of the teachers were already asleep. She liked to write and prepare lectures for her seminar on Restoration Magic late at night in the Arcanium, where she would be spared the harassment of her colleagues.

Faralda was still awake, sitting on the edge of her bed, looking at her as she passed.

Colette stopped as she noticed her.

"What?" Faralda snapped her fingers, making a tiny flame appear that was dancing on her fingertip. She took a deep breath and blew air on to it, making it lash out and light a candle on her bedside table. As the flame disappeared she looked back at Colette and winked at her with a superior smile.

"I know what you're insinuating!", Colette said angrily. "Next time you have a cold, don't come knocking on my door!"

Faralda chuckled and lay down on the bed with a book in her hands.

Colette walked to the door at a brisk pace.

As she was about to grab for the handle, it was kicked open, snow blew in from the storm outside. With great surprise she looked upon a student, covered in snow, dragging somebody along.

"Please help!" The young woman collapsed onto the floor from the cold and exhaustion.

"Maryon, is that you?", Faralda shouted standing in the archway of her alcove.

"Stop staring and give me a hand!", Colette barked back at her as she reached under Brelyna's arm to help her back to her feet. She sat her down on the edge of the magelight fountain in the center of the hall.

"Please...", Brelyna said shivering and out of breath, "She's been wounded..."

Colette looked down to the Dunmer that had been dragged in on a fur cloak. She removed the second cloak that had been placed on top of her. "Ysmir!" She saw the burn marks and the clothes drenched in blood and knew the situation was grim.

"Faralda, take her legs!"

They lifted her up and carried her over to an empty alcove to place her on the bed there. As they passed Brelyna who was still sitting on the fountain edge, rubbing her arms, trying to catch her breath, Faralda looked up at her. "Where in Oblivion have you been?!"

Upon resting Nephiah on the bed, Colette took a utility knife from her belt and began to cut the blood-soaked hide armor open to get a better look at the wound. "Did you do this?", she asked over her shoulder.

"She was stabbed, she would have bled out right there!" Brelyna had moved herself to the entrance of the alcove and was leaning against it.

"With flames?", Faralda asked surprised, Brelyna nodded in a head movement barely distinguishable from her shivering. Faralda walked over, took her hands and pulled them to her. They had red burn marks all over.

"Colette, look at this." She pulled Brelyna over to the bed, where Colette was still tossing bloody bits of hide armor onto the floor. She turned around and glanced at Brelyna's hands.

"That's superficial.", she said like she was annoyed by the interruption. She quickly grabbed the hands. A golden glow pulsed from her head through her shoulders into her hands, then she let go and turned back to her patient. It was over in an instant. Brelyna looked at her hands, the burn marks had vanished, so had the pain. Colette was an expert at this, there was no doubt.

"How long ago was this?"

"I don't know, noon?" "

What in Oblivion happened to this girl?!" Colette looked over her shoulder with shock in her eyes.

"I told you, she was stabbed!"

"No, I don't mean that, I mean this!" She moved to the side, revealing Nephiah's bare torso, its surface littered with scars left by whips, blades and fire. It was the first time Brelyna saw the extent of if, she gasped and moved a hand over her mouth, tears shot in her eyes. "I don't know...", she whispered.

Colette looked back at the wound. She lifted the shoulder and examined the other side. "Went right through?" Brelyna nodded, her hand still covering her mouth.

"Faralda, get Drevis over here." Faralda was staring in disbelief. "Faralda! Drevis!"

"Yes.", she snapped out of it and quickly left the alcove.

"Can you help her?", Brelyna asked with a soft, fearful voice.

"She will have to do her part." Colette looked worried as she lifted one of Nephiah's eyelids with her thumb to check for reactions, then feeling the elevated temperature on her forehead.

"Damn you, nefarious woman!" Drevis was drowsy after being dragged out of bed and pulled across the hall. "Will you tell me what you..." His thought was interrupted as they arrived and his eyes fell upon Nephiah. "Azura..."

Then he saw Colette kneeling beside the bed, gesturing him to get closer. "There is a wound below the surface, it goes all the way through. I will have to dig deep, it won't be pleasant. If she wakes, I need you to dull her pain."

Drevis looked at Colette realizing what she was asking and shying away from the responsibility. "I... I...", he stuttered, "This isn't really my area of expertise!"

"Damnit, Drevis!" Colette stood up. "I am trying to save a life! You are the authority on Illusion Magic at the College, don't tell me you can't make her think she feels no pain!"

"Well, I... I... maybe for a moment?" Drevis was startled by her passion, she usually kept to herself as the rest of the mages made fun of her. He was certainly not used to her taking a commanding stance.

"Just do what you can. You'll know when."

Colette put both her hands onto the fresh wound. Brelyna kneeled down beside Colette and took Nephiah's hand. Drevis tensed up and lifted his hands which began to emit a dark purple aura. He was visibly nervous as he got ready to cast his spell at a moment's notice. Faralda stepped back, crossed her arms and watched the scene unfold.

Colette began to glow in a golden light, giving off little flickers that looked like she was surrounded by fireflies. Eventually the glow got brighter, centered in her chest and then shot down her arms into her hands. Upon arriving at the wound it shot into the ceiling and to the ground, a column of light that went through both her hands and her patient.

Nephiah's eyes instantly opened wide, so did her mouth. She got up into a sitting position against the pressure of Colette's hands which were trying to keep her lying down. As she moved up she audibly took in a lot of air, it must have been an intense pain to bring her out of her unconsciousness this violently.

She squeezed Brelyna's hand hard. "Ou ou ou!" She just remembered that grip of hers.

"NOW!", Colette yelled. Drevis released the charge in his hands, transferring the purple aura from him to Nephiah. She fell back down onto the pillow, unconscious again. The golden light dissipated.

Colette puffed her cheeks as she exhaled in exertion. "Now it's up to her."

She slowly stood up and then quickly left the alcove as if she remembered something. Drevis slowly walked out, wiping sweat off his forehead. "I don't need this kind of excitement in the middle of the night!"

"You don't have to tell me.", Faralda said as he passed her by. She then turned to Brelyna who was still holding on to the hand of her friend. "You and I are going to talk about your unauthorized absence in the morning." With that she left as well.

After a moment of silence, Brelyna got to her feet. She gazed upon the countless marks on Nephiah's upper body that were witnesses to a life lived in agony. She softly ran her fingers over Nephiah's stomach, the scars made it feel rough and leathery. She closed her eyes which made another tear fall. "Those aren't wounds of war."

Colette had reappeared behind her. Startled, she quickly pulled her hand back and turned around.

"She was tortured. For a long time." Colette put a blanket onto the empty chair in the alcove and put a bucket filled with water down in front of Brelyna. "Wash off the blood, then keep a wet cloth on her forehead to keep the fever down. If she lives through the night, she'll make it."

"Thank you...", Brelyna said softly and sincerely.

"What did I tell you when you first came here?", Colette said, maternally moving wet strands of hair out of Brelyna's face to the left and right. "Restoration is a perfectly valid school of magic." She smiled and turned to leave.

"Colette!" Brelyna stopped her, she turned back around. "I know the other teachers mock you for specializing in Restoration Magic. They say it's best left to the priests in the temple."

Colette pressed her lips together, Brelyna took a step towards her. "But there is one mage that will forever respect you." Colette smiled, she didn't hear that very often.

"Well then, apprentice.", she said as she turned to leave, "I suppose you better make sure you graduate."


	10. What a Tiny Space

**Chapter 10: What a Tiny Space**

 _The heavy door swung open._

 _Nephiah lay in a corner, she had whip marks on her arms, a black eye, her head had been shaved. She had lost track of how long it had been, but the sound of the door still made her flinch._

 _Frokwulf remained in the corridor outside. "Come.", he simply said. Without delay she stood up and walked over. She turned her back to him and put her hands behind her back._

 _Frokwulf bowed down to put iron shackles on her wrists. It all seemed very automatic. "Today is the day.", he said pointing down the corridor. Nephiah started walking, Frokwulf followed closely. At a T-junction, two bandits crossed their path from left to right, they turned right as well._

 _"Hey Frokwulf!", one of the bandits in front of them said over his shoulder. "What's it with your obsession with Elves anyway."_

 _Another T-junction, they turned left. "Do you know how old Elves get.", Frokwulf replied. "I don't know, 200 years?"_

 _"I've heard they live to over a thousand.", the other Bandit interjected._

 _"Nonsense, they'd have to use magic to reach that age."_

 _"Shut up!", Frokwulf yelled._

 _Nephiah flinched, she had heard that tone of voice a lot. The bandits looked back._

 _"The point is, they get very old. This slave..." He put his hand on Nephiah's shoulder. "...won't show signs of aging for the next three generations of Nords. So if you train them young, you will have something very valuable. If they are pretty, well. That's just an added bonus."_

 _The corridor opened up to a hall that was filled with iron cages. Each one was populated by children of all races and all ages. Some of them were unconscious, some of them were curled up and crying, some stared at them fearfully as they passed. Fear that intensified upon laying eyes on Nephiah, a sign of things to come. Eventually they left the hall into another corridor._

 _"Well, in any case, this might actually become a profitable business. We have received word from a kind of blood cult out west which seems to be very interested in our merchandise."_

 _"A blood cult.", Frokwulf laughed. "Those are vampires, you dimwit."_

 _The bandit looked back at Frokwulf with surprise. "How do you know?"_

 _"Let's just say they appreciate people with certain... talents."_

 _"Oh so the boss is one of them?"_

 _He looked back into the direction he was walking. "The boss is not a vampire, are you crazy? Have you ever seen him eat somebody.", the other bandit said._

 _"Why do they call him 'The Unliving' then."_

 _"Probably because he's supposed to be over 150 years old."_

 _"Magic?"_

 _"Damned if I know. But definitely not a vampire." Frokwulf followed the exchange with amusement._

 _The corridor opened up to another hall, it was filled with people. A big chair lined with satin was placed onto an elevated platform at the far end. The hooded man sat on it, looking down into the room._

 _Many bandits lined the sides of the room, building small clusters of people. Many of them had a piece of cloth sown into their armor that was the same color as the robe of the man in the chair._

 _Three men stood in the center of the room, looking up at the hooded man._

 _"Who do you think you are?.", the man in the middle said with distain in his voice. "We are Nords! This is not worthy of our people!"_

 _The bandit in front pointed angrily at the hood. As they reached a place close to the throne, Nephiah was made to stop by the hand on her shoulder. The other two bandits moved into a different group. Everybody was watching the exchange in the middle of the room._

 _"Are you not bandits?", the hooded man replied in a tone much more sophisticated than was usually heard in these halls. "Are you not amongst the lawless riffraff, that steals and murders for their own gain?"_

 _"This is different! We engage our prey in combat! If they are worthy fighters, they get to live and it is we who get to die! You are capturing people, turning them into obedient animals!" He turned to the spectators. "Have you seen the cages?! There are children there! Nord children!"_

 _An uproar went through the room._

 _The hooded man spoke loudly to reach over the chatter. "I have made preparations that will award us with much wealth!" The room quieted down again. "And power, if you care for that sort of thing."_

 _The three bandits on the floor turned back to him._

 _"But in order to meet the demand and also to keep the Yarl's men at bay - because believe me, they have taken note of what we are doing - we must organize. Work together. And together we shall reap the benefits!"_

 _A lot of the crowd applauded, a good number demonstratively crossed their arms and remained silent._

 _"This is not our way!", the bandit in the center said. "And I am not the only one who thinks that way! If I see you hunting in our territory, there will be trouble!"_

 _The hooded man took a deep breath and sighed as he exhaled. He stood up and raised his hands. He threw them forth, emitting rays of lightning towards the two bandits standing next to his opponent. Both of them were instantly thrown back and landed a few meters back. A purple pulse followed the lightning and hit its targets before they stopped their movement. Smoke rose from the lifeless bodies._

 _The bandit left standing drew his sword and made a motion towards him._

 _He raised a finger and spoke with eerie certainty in his voice. "Wait for it."_

 _The bandit stopped and hesitantly turned around as the dead bodies of his companions began to twitch and moan and eventually got back to their feet. The crowd was dead silent,_

 _Nephiah's eyes opened wide, she was terrified. But with nowhere to turn she was left alone with her fear._

 _"Jorcjolf?", the bandit on the floor asked his former companion who looked at him with dead eyes. They jumped him without warning, rung him to the ground and began to tear him to pieces with their bare hands. Blood spilled, pieces of flesh got tossed all over the floor._

 _Nephiah closed her eyes and turned away._

 _Frokwulf grabbed her forehead from behind with his large hand and opened her eyelids with his ring and index fingers. "Watch."_

 _After the sounds of death had stopped, the hooded man gestured in a dismissive manner at the floor. The living corpses stopped moving, their skin turned black and they dissolved into piles of ash._

 _"Necromancer...", whispered a bandit standing close to Nephiah._

 _Frokwulf let go of her head._

 _"Yes.", the hooded man said as he sat back down. "If you are not comfortable with this arrangement, there will indeed be trouble."_

 _Groups of bandits started quietly mumbling amongst each other._

 _"Now for a demonstration!", the hooded man said loudly, turning the hall quiet again._

 _Nephiah's breathing got faster, she was told what was going to happen. "So you see the kind of wares we will be selling, the kind of raw material we require."_

 _He looked to Frokwulf who removed the shackles from Nephiah's hands and put his hand back on her shoulder. He then led her onto the floor, they stopped in the middle, in front of the throne._

 _"This is a slave!", Frokwulf said as if beginning a lecture. He grabbed her linen robe by the neck and ripped it away in one powerful movement, it made Nephiah stumble backwards a couple of steps. The tiny body was covered in cuts and bruises in various states of healing, the room was dead silent._

 _"Don't let the shape fool you, it is not a person. It's a thing. Created only for one purpose, to serve its master. Without question, without reservation." He went over to the fire spit and took out an iron staff that had been placed inside. "It does not think, nor feel, nor want." He went close to the spectators and showed them the end of the staff, a plaque had been attached to its end, it was glowing in bright orange, giving off strong heat._

 _The people in the front row backed off a little as he passed them by._

 _"A person has agendas, desires and most importantly an instinct of self preservation." He stepped in front of Nephiah and looked down at her. "This does not."_

 _She was shivering, yet didn't make a sound. He looked deep into her eyes. He didn't say a word but she understood. She lay down on her stomach, extending her left hand out flat on the floor. He raised the staff and looked at the crowd. "Observe."_

 _He brought the branding iron down and pressed it against the back of Nephiah's hand, a sizzling sound was instantly heard. Her face was showing the agony it caused, yet nothing was heard but the sound of burning flesh and the silence of the crowd. Frokwulf held it in place for a while as he browsed the rows of people, some in shock of the brutality of it, some having greed written all over their faces as they realized the potential of the proposal they were given._

 _After what seemed like ages, he removed the staff from her hand. She wanted to pull it to her._

 _"Leave it there.", he said calmly._

 _She stretched the wounded hand back out. It had a smouldering mark of burned red and black flesh on it, forming the word 'slave'. He crouched down and put his hand on her head. She looked up at him, her teeth clenched as she tried to suppress the need to scream from the shock of pain the fresh wound kept sending up her arm._

 _Very proud of his work, he smiled. "This is what I like to see."_

She gave off a short scream as she woke. She hastily looked around, a wet cloth fell from her forehead. After the initial confusion passed she noticed Brelyna sitting in a chair by the bed, sleeping. Further getting her bearings she took note of the fact that she was lying in a bed and a blanket had been placed on her. She looked beside the bed, there was a bucket filled with red water, cut pieces of what she recognized to be her armor sticking out of it. She raised the blanket to see what she was wearing. Nothing by the looks of it.

Then she noticed the sharp pain in her shoulder. Remembering the stab wound she quickly checked her shoulder. The wound was closed, it felt like some healing was still going on under the surface. Her breathing slowed down, there seemed to be no danger present. She relaxed and sank back into the pillow, she was exhausted.

"Hey...", a soft voice spoke. Brelyna ran her hands over her eyes, got up and sat down on the bed beside her. "How are you feeling?"

No reaction, but she didn't really expect an answer. She took Nephiah's hand and gently caressed it, moving her thumb across the raised mark. The branding had left a thick scar, she could make out the letters just by touching it. A moment passed, the magelight fountain made a calming humming noise. "So the people you are looking for..."

She looked her in the eye. "Are those the ones who did this to you?"

Sadness sunk into Nephiah's face, she looked away. "Yes.", she whispered.

Brelyna closed her eyes and nodded slowly. "Ok." She took a deep breath. "Hhhhokay..."

She looked back at her. "Hungry? I'm starving. Want some?"

Nephiah looked confused. "S-some stew?"

"You read my mind! I'll be right back." She placed a gentle kiss upon Nephiah's hand, got up and stormed out. Nephiah looked at her hand. The moisture of Brelyna's lips lingered on top of the mark.

What a tiny space, the back of a hand, to host signs of such cruelty and such kindness at the same time. She moved her right hand over the mark. It immediately hurt upon touching it, like it always did, she let go.

It didn't hurt when Brelyna was touching it a moment ago. "Huh."


	11. Slave to the System

**Chapter 11: Slave to the System**

Brelyna was crossing the courtyard to get to the Hall of Attainment, where the students were housed. They had a table there that the college chef kept full of food and they recently added a little fireplace. Kept warm on top of it was usually a pot of Horker stew. She had developed a liking to Nordic cooking since she arrived and she would be looking forward to those stews whenever they were on the menu. But right now she was thinking about something else.

Nephiah hadn't said much. But she didn't have to, not after what Brelyna had seen. It was all made clear the instant she laid eyes on Nephiah's scarred body. People did this to her. It was why she hunted them with such burning anger, why she didn't speak, why she thought she didn't exist.

How long had she been their captive? How long did it take for the damage done to her body to be done to her mind as well? Brelyna shuddered. She was angry. She was disgusted. That this was allowed to happen to a being so beautiful, with such magical power over her. That this was allowed to happen at all. She reached the Hall of Attainment and entered.

Her racing mind was stopped dead as her eyes fell upon the old Dark Elf standing in the archway of her alcove. "Master Neloth!"

He was dressed in masterfully made mage robes of Dunmer design. "Does the fine lady grace us with her presence.", he said sarcastically.

Like her father, he was a powerful Telvanni mage. She was brought along on visits to his Solstheim estate a few times, he was not a pleasant man.

She carefully stepped closer. "What are you doing here?"

Neloth didn't move, he kept looking at her disapprovingly. "I am not an errand boy, young Maryon. And were it not for your father's almost exclusive accomplishments which ensured that house Telvanni did not fracture and fade into nothingness after the Argonian uprising, I would not be standing here."

"Ok?", she said carefully probing further. "So what does father want?"

"What does he want?!" He took a sudden step closer, Brelyna flinched slightly. "Maybe he wants to know how his daughter's studies are going, like any father would. Has it ever occurred to you that he invested a good deal in your development."

"My development...", she laughed.

"You are a Telvanni, young lady! Just as I am, just as your father is. And with that come certain responsibilities if the name is to mean anything tomorrow." He took another step forward, slowly this time. "On your father's behest I have come all the way from Solstheim to see how you are. And what must I find. You are absent, gone for days. Nobody knows where you are."

Her eyes opened wider and wider with every step he took.

"Against my council, he took a chance, letting you come here. He would have provided the same education in Morrowind, if not better. But he was convinced that you needed to have your space to thrive, as much as it pained him."

He arrived right in front of her looking down, he was tall for a Dunmer. She nervously looked up into his eyes.

"But apparently you use your freedom to disappear without leave, go on some adventure and bring back wounded strays."

He knew about Nephiah.

"Yes, I have spoken to your teachers. I have no idea what your relationship with that... rabble is but you are here to study. Not follow your every youthful whim."

Brelyna couldn't look him in the eye anymore. She turned away and walked to the stairs that led to the upper level. "Excuse me, Master Neloth, but I was about to have a meal." She said, trying her best to sound calm.

"Yes, you do that, young Maryon. I shall speak to your father and see if he thinks your behavior warrants... consequences." He turned and left the hall.

The food table was on the upper level. With shaking hands Brelyna grabbed a wooden bowl and filled it with stew from the kettle. She put it down on the table but absentmindedly placed it on the edge so that it instantly fell, spilling its contents over the floor. "Damnit!" she said with a quivering voice. She took a deep breath and found a chair to sit down in. She placed a hand over her eyes. "Damnit."

Nephiah pushed herself up and turned to sit on the edge of the bed. The healing stab wound made its presence known with every movement. She looked around to find a fresh novice robe that had been placed over the arm rest of a chair. She moved to slide off the bed, the stone floor was cold under her bare feet. She quickly moved to the chair and slipped into the robe. She found her boots at the end of the bed, at least they hadn't cut those up as well. She bent down to pick them up, the sharp pain in her shoulder let her know that it may be too soon for this kind of extreme position. She let them drop beside the bed as she fell back into it, giving off a moan. She moved a hand up to her forehead, noticing that the black linen cloth she liked to wrap around it was missing as well. Exploring further she noticed something else that was strange. As she ran her fingers through her hair she noticed how soft and straight it was, that she could run her fingers through it at all was a novelty. Puzzled, she pinched two fingers full of strands to examine more closely. The edges were clean, cut more precisely than she would with her dagger.

"I hope you don't mind." Brelyna was standing in the archway, two filled bowls of stew in hand. "I was cleaning off all the blood and some had gotten into your hair. And when I was done there I thought I might as well." She smiled nervously, not entirely sure what reaction she'd get. She hadn't entered the archway yet, figuring it best to make sure she wasn't in any danger of getting strangled. "It's almost the same length, just clean!"

Nephiah looked at her, raising an eyebrow. She did not seem to understand the effort.

"You look very pretty."

Nephiah shrugged.

Giving off a sigh of relief, Brelyna entered the alcove. She sat down at her side and handed her one of the bowls. "Careful, hot."

Brelyna took a couple of spoonfuls, Nephiah sniffed the edge of her bowl in an effort to identify the meal. Brelyna giggled. "It's Horker stew."

Nephiah looked at her with scepticism.

"It's really good!"

She took the spoon out of her bowl and tossed it onto the floor. Then she took the bowl into both hands and began to gulp its contents down in one go.

"Waitwaitwait!", she laughed.

Eventually, the empty bowl was set down, Nephiah gave off a sigh of exertion.

Brelyna giggled again. "I guess there's no need for table manners where you live, huh."

"Obviously not, just look at her." They both looked to the entrance with surprise. Neloth had entered.

Nephiah tensed up immediately, forming fists, ready to jump up.

"But you will where you're going."

Adrenalin was surging through Brelyna's veins. "W-where I'm going?"

"I noticed a bit of a flirtatious tone in your voice there. Who is this grunt?." He looked at Nephiah with much distain. "Is this a..." His eyes fell upon her left hand. "... a Dunmer slave?" He looked confused. "And a Telvanni falling for her." He began to laugh loudly. "Does this qualify as irony? I can never tell."

Brelyna checked Nephiah's face to see how close she was to jumping up. She was scanning him carefully, registering his every movement.

"No matter.", he said placing his eyes back on Brelyna. "I talked to your father."

Brelyna stood up and turned her back to him, putting her bowl down on the bed side table. She didn't want him to see her face. "Father is in Morrowind."

"Yes, I suppose two old mages like your father and I don't have to actually be in the same room to have a word. Maybe he will show you how that works once you are back home."

"Back home?!" She turned around.

"I have come to the conclusion, and your father agrees, that you are unable to reach the level of proficiency that is required of you without proper supervision. You will take a ship to Solstheim with me. By the time we arrive, your father will be there to take you back to Morrowind."

Brelyna chose the college to be away from him, to not feel the constant pressure of him looking over her shoulder. But she was afraid this would happen so she had put that pressure upon herself instead, figuring that good progress would earn her continued stay here. "No!" She stormed out, past Neloth into the hall, he turned and followed.

"This is entirely on you, young lady!"

She stopped and turned around. "I was out looking for an ingredient! To practice a spell!"

"Oh, I see. And you did so without telling anyone. And you just happened across this... this oaf over there."

"Yes!" Brelyna was pleading with him. The distress in her voice did not remain unnoticed by Nephiah, who's face turned from alert to angry. She slowly got up and moved towards Neloth who's back was turned to her.

"I don't believe a word of it." Neloth was content with the decision to have her back home. A Telvanni should be taught by a Telvanni, he used to say. "Your teachers tell me, your mastery of conjuration spells are far behind where it should be. Successes in destruction magic are few. AND they say they still catch you talking to yourself."

A tear rolled down Brelyna's cheek. "It's because even here I feel his hand pushing me!"

"I have not come to hear your excuses! I have come to inform you of the reality of your situation." He quickly turned around, noticing Nephiah getting closer. She held a threatening stance, her face speaking volumes about what she was going to do. "Do you have a death wish?", he said unimpressed.

Nephiah charged. Neloth immediately threw his hands forward, giving off flashes of lightning. As they hit her, she was thrown back, hitting the wall behind her and dropping down onto the bed.

"Don't hurt her!" Brelyna was well aware of his power and his disposition to elements that disturbed his calm.

He looked at her. "Well maybe you should remind your friend not to attack her betters." He briefly looked back at his target, Nephiah was lying on the bed, coughing, giving of faint puffs of smoke. He turned back to Brelyna and moved towards her. "You are coming with me, I have a ship waiting in Windhelm." He grabbed her arm and began pulling her towards the door, Brelyna tried to resist, but to no avail.

"Hey!"

He turned around to see where the shout came from.

Nephiah had gotten back to her feet and was standing in the archway of her alcove. In her hand she carried a mounted Saber Cat head that had decorated a wall.

Neloth let go of Brelyna's arm and turned to face her. He tilted his neck lightly as he anticipated her next feeble attempt at combat. She ripped the animal head off the solid wooden plaque it was mounted on and tossed it away. She took aim, turned on her own axis and then hurled the plaque towards Neloth. He was prepared to duck but quickly realized that it would miss him by a good margin. As he looked back at Nephiah condescendingly, the plaque that missed him hit a wall behind him, bounced off and hit him right in the back of the head. The force of the impact sent him forward, hitting the floor face first.

Nephiah instantly rushed towards him, got to one knee and grabbed the back of his robe. She lifted his upper body and smashed him into the ground. And again.

Brelyna watched in horror, she had seen that expression on her face before.

Nephiah lifted him up a third time, a good deal higher this time. One final smash into the ground would solve the problem.

"Please don't kill him!"

The fearful voice echoed through the rage that filled her head and usually drowned out everything else. She froze, still holding him up in the air. She looked at Brelyna, who had extended a hand to her, not knowing what else to do. She looked at her face, her body language. She remembered that this had led to something profoundly unpleasant not long ago.

Brelyna looked at her, already imagining the impact and the thousand consequences of it. She shook her head ever so slightly.

Nephiah looked at Neloth, then back at her. Then instead of smashing him into the ground, she slowly lay him back down, he wasn't moving. She stood up and took a few exerted breaths, trying to fend off the rage. Every fiber of her being was telling her to kill the man at her feet. The undisputed certainty that there would be no safety, unless she made sure right now. She made fists, pressed her lips together and squeezed her eyes shut.

Startled by a hand touching hers she looked to her side.

Brelyna had gotten close and reached for her with both hands. She began to pull softly. "We have to leave..."

Reluctantly, Nephiah began to give in to the force pulling her away. She looked her in the eye, fury still burning at her core. "We have to leave..." Brelyna whispered again. Eventually they began to run and left the hall.

The instant the door closed, it opened again. Brelyna ran to Nephiah's bed and grabbed her boots and the fur cloaks that had been thrown into a corner. As she passed Neloth, he began to moan, regaining consciousness. She looked back as she reached the door.

"This... isn't over...", he said trying to push himself up.

Without pause, Brelyna turned and left.

As fast as they were able, they ran over the narrow stone bridge that led out of the college into the town of Winterhold.

Nephiah's shoulder was hurting fiercely, she wasn't moving at full speed.

Brelyna kept looking behind her.

As they got half way to the other end, she spotted a shape in the distance behind them. Before she could make out who it was, a bolt of lightning was fired and hit Nephiah in the back, she stumbled and fell to one knee. Another bolt was cast, Brelyna instinctively stepped into the line of fire and threw a ward up. The bolt discharged upon impact, doing no damage. But she too was pushed a step back by its force.

The shape was constantly moving towards them until Neloth's bloodied grimace was recognizable.

She could see in his face that unlike before he now had the intention to kill Nephiah and had he not just suffered a severe beating, his first shot would likely have reduced her to a pile of dust.

"Out of the way, Maryon!", he shouted angrily, "I'd prefer you don't get hurt!"

Brelyna looked back at her friend who was still down, trying to shake off the pain of the magical projectile that just hit her. She looked back at Neloth, he was still getting closer. She closed her eyes, moved her right hand back and cast a fireball towards him.

He had no trouble getting out of its path, it hit a wall somewhere behind him. "Well.", he said wiping blood off his lip, "We don't always get what we'd prefer." His bruised ego pained him more than his bruised head. He shot forth a continuous stream of lightning, aimed at Brelyna.

She instantly brought her ward back up, leaning forward into the incoming force so that she wouldn't get knocked off her feet. She shouldn't be able to block his spell but the head injuries he had suffered weakened his power a fair bit. She still struggled to keep the ward up as the lightning kept hitting it in erratic patterns. "I can't keep this up for long!" she yelled, the spell already taking a visible toll on her.

Nephiah pushed herself to her feet and hastily looked around for a way out. The bridge was narrow, built high up over a rocky cliff. They couldn't jump, the only way was back. But with the ward up, they couldn't outrun him. She also realized that if she moved past the ward to do something about Neloth directly, she would be struck down right way. She had no weapons to throw at him and was thusly fresh out of ideas.

"Master Neloth, please!", Brelyna cried, "Just let us go!"

"Not going to happen!", he said stretching his arms out, intensifying his spell further.

The blue light of the ward became unsteady, it dimmed and flickered. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. Then one on her chin. As her head was turned to the side she saw her. All close and beautiful, with that stern look on her face. Nephiah moved her head forward and pressed their lips together. Brelyna's brows rose in surprise, her eyes closed, the violent crackles of the magical discharges faded away.

The ward flared up into a bright blue color, it's intensity rising to the point where they must have seen it in Winterhold. Then, while usually just covering a section in front of the caster like a shield, it began to expand, eventually forming a sphere that engulfed them both.

Neloth stopped and looked at the spell, not entirely sure what it was. His confused look turned into reinvigorated anger as he threw all his strength into the next charge. He was still not getting through.

Brelyna turned into the kiss, letting her hands leave the casting stance and placing them on Nephiah's shoulders. The overcharged ward still didn't dissipate, in fact it gained more strength as their kiss intensified. It began to give off a pulse, the sphere expanding and retracting a few meters.

Neloth stopped both his spell and his movement towards them. The pulse shot out quickly, once every two seconds. Its diameter had almost reached him, he took a step back. He was a very powerful mage who had mastered every spell he had come across in his exceptionally long lifetime. And he was genuinely uncertain of what would happen if he made contact with it.

As their lips detached, they looked each other in the eyes deeply, surrounded by the bright blue sphere and the incredible warmth that filled it. Nephiah looked around, marveling at its beauty, then looked back at Brelyna who smiled at her, eyes wide open. She lifted one side of her mouth, forming a half smile. "Huh." Brelyna gasped. "Did I just make you smile?!"

Nephiah shook her head slightly. "Smirk." she said before leaning back into another kiss.

As their lips met again, the sphere expanded violently, forming a shockwave that extended into all directions. It unsettled rocks on the cliff below, forming avalanches, even pushing back snowflakes above that were falling onto it.

As it hit Neloth, he was lifted off his feet and thrown back all the way into the college courtyard, where he eventually came to a stop, hitting his head on the fountain in its center. He fell to the ground and stopped moving.

As the shockwave dissipated they looked to the college. "What. Was. That.", Brelyna said in disbelief.

They looked back at each other. Nephiah shrugged. "It's what you do."

The door to the main hall of the college opened and the teachers came running out. Nephiah's spectacular entrance had caused them to hold a meeting to discuss a course of action. The sounds of the spells had notified them of combat going on outside. They ran to Neloth. Drevis and Colette kneeled down to see if he was still breathing, Faralda took a few steps towards the gate. She tried to identify the two shapes that were moving away in the distance. "Maryon?"


	12. Her Domain

**Chapter 12: Her Domain**

"My life is over.", Brelyna said with desperation in her voice. They had been walking for a while, past Winterhold, past Windhelm and took a right turn at the thermo active plains of the Eastmarch. And slowly but surely, the reality of what just happened sunk in. "Over! Done! Past tense!"

Nephiah's shoulder was still hurting. She kept a hand on it as they trotted along.

Brelyna was rubbing her forehead with one hand. "I'm going to get expelled!"

Nephiah looked at her, trying to understand.

"There are strict rules against violence at the college! That's it! And even if it wasn't, Neloth is not the kind who stops short of getting what he wants!"

They began to cross a shallow river bed, ankle high water running through it. "What am I going to do?! How am I going to live?! I can't go back there and I can't go back home either!" She looked into the sky, the red of dawn was beginning to show on the horizon. Her mind was racing with options and courses of action, all of them bad. "Azura guide me..."

Nephiah was looking at the water surface as they crossed. Suddenly her hand shot down into the water and came back up, holding a fish. She presented it to Brelyna by holding it into her face as it flapped about, giving off sprinkles of river water. "Dinner?", she said.

Brelyna gave off a short laugh as she pushed the arm away to get some distance between the wet fish and her face. It seemed to be a very simple approach to a very complicated problem. She sighed. "I hope you have a place we can go."

Nephiah threw the fish back into the water.

They moved up a hill, green grass, bushes and lush trees began to reappear. They continued to walk into the wilderness in silence, Brelyna was lost in thought. Eventually they reached a serene little pond which had a small island in its center.

Still thinking, Brelyna automatically moved to go around it but her course was quickly changed by Nephiah who grabbed her hand and pulled her into the water. It wasn't deep, it reached waist height before they began to re-emerge on the island.

Nephiah grabbed a bush and moved it to the side, revealing a wooden hatch. She opened it, a shaft let down into the darkness underground. She jumped in, ignoring the makeshift ladder attached to the shaft.

Brelyna looked around and then down the hole. "So this is where you live?", she shouted down.

No answer.

A flash of light appeared at the bottom revealing Nephiah who had just lit a torch. It was a few meters deep. She looked up and signaled to follow.

As Brelyna reached her - she used the ladder - Nephiah pulled a rope that was hanging down from above. The hatch closed and a brushing noise indicated that the bush had been placed back on top of it. Nephiah grabbed her hand again and began to lead her through a series of narrow tunnels. There was not enough space for two people to stand side by side.

Occasionally she stopped and pointed at hidden triggers for traps to avoid. Contraptions of wooden spikes to shoot from out the ground and heavy rocks to fall from the ceiling were ready to greet any unwanted visitors. The tunnel was lined with plenty of them. Eventually they reached a dead end. Nephiah let go of her hand and grabbed a big iron lever that by the looks of it had been installed there a long time ago. As she flipped it, one could hear a mechanism work behind the rocky walls. A part of the wall began to move to the side, revealing a larger cave behind it. Nephiah entered, making another gesture to follow.

Brelyna carefully entered and looked around. This was her domain. There was a table with a chair and a simple wooden bed filled with animal furs. A torch flickered on the wall, giving off a faint light over the humble scene.

Nephiah moved further in and held her torch to a large waist high chalice which flared up, illuminating the entire room. It was revealed to be much larger than the small torch at the entrance lead Brelyna to believe. She stopped moving and stared in awe. A corner of the wall harbored a chest filled with gems and jewellery, piles of gold coins to the left and right of it, there must have been thousands of them. Another corner contained stacks books of all shapes and sizes, another had animal hides and furs piled into it.

"Where did you get all this?", she asked not believing her eyes.

"Around." Nephiah shrugged. "It's everywhere."

"How long have you lived here?" She shrugged again and moved another lever. The door closed behind them.

Nephiah disappeared through another short tunnel on the other side, lighting torches on the wall as she went.

Brelyna slowly followed, still looking at the wealth of artifacts that had been collected here. As she left the tunnel she found herself in a small room that was set up as a cooking area. A small table with bloodstains and a butchers knife on it, a small cooking spit with a kettle under which one could light a fire, shelves filled with salted meat and various dried plants, she couldn't identify all of them. Nephiah was nowhere to be seen, she went into the next tunnel.

Before reaching the next exit she stepped on something soft. She looked down to see the novice robe Nephiah was given at the college. She looked up and hesitantly stepped forward into the next room. It was the last in the chain of caves, its circular wall lined with shelves on which an assortment of hide armor pieces and other clothing items were placed. A number of iron swords and war axes leaned on the wall, hunting bows, a pile of arrows and quivers, old clay jugs of all shapes and sizes. Nephiah was standing in front of a shelf, naked, picking up the various pieces that would make a full set of armor. She turned around and spotted her companion standing at the entrance, blushing.

"Oh, um, ha..." Brelyna scanned her up and down, looking past the scars. She was very muscular, yet curved beautifully in all the right places. She found it just a bit awkward, she couldn't get a thought to form.

Nephiah didn't apparently, she raised her eyebrows and tilted her head slightly as if asking her to say what was on her mind.

"Um... soooo... ha... "

Nephiah's patience had ended, she moved past her, grabbed a bow and an arrow quiver and left the way they came, pieces of armor in one hand, the weapon in the other.

Brelyna ran her hands over her eyes and laughed. "What an eventful few days this has been."

As she arrived back in the main living room, Nephiah sat on the small table by the entrance, already in the process of strapping the last shoulder piece to her armor. She then wrapped a black piece of linen around her forehead and looked up at her friend who felt incredibly out of place. "I hunt.", she said grabbing the bow and jumping off the table. Then she pointed to the ground. "This is safe." Then she pointed at the lever on the wall. "If you must leave." She stood up and flipped the lever, the door opened. She stepped into the tunnel and put a hand on the switch outside. "Don't leave.", she said over her shoulder. She flipped the switch, the door closed.

As the door mechanism fell silent, Brelyna stepped further into the room, browsing the signs of life. The treasure chest contained pieces of jewellery of different styles and levels of craftsmanship, some of them looked very old. A dragon claw was amongst the riches, she remembered those from history books. They were used to open elaborate doors to ancient Nordic burial grounds. Nephiah must have spent a good deal of time underground, raiding tombs.

She looked at the stacks of books. There seemed to be no particular order in which they were placed. The ones at the bottom seemed to be more dusty than the ones on top, probably stacked in the order she had found them. "Why collect books if you can't read?"

She moved on to the pile of furs. Obviously taken from animals she herself had hunted. Behind it a pile of ingots revealed itself. They mere made of different materials, she didn't know much about smithing. It all looked very lived in, well thought out and built upon over time. While the main room looked like it had naturally formed, the other two had been dug out manually. "How many years has it been?"

She moved past the kitchen, picked the robe off the ground and folded it to place it on one of the shelves. She ran her hand over the various articles of clothing. Some of them looked self-made, some didn't. She moved her face closer and took a deep breath. Everything smelled of her, a subconscious smile formed on her face. She picked up one of the black linen pieces and wrapped it around her forehead, just like Nephiah did. She giggled childishly.

She turned around and picked up one of the iron swords. She lifted it up, it was heavy. How one would swing this through the air with any kind of precision she had no idea. She took an uncoordinated swing. She quickly lost hold of the blade, it flew across the room, knocking over a shelf. It crashed to the ground, scattering boots and arrows all over the floor. "Damnit!"

She quickly moved to the entrance and looked across the tunnels to see if Nephiah had returned and heard the noise. Nothing. She turned to the chaos at her feet and sighed. "That's what they'll write on my tomb stone one day." She bowed down and lifted the shelf back up. "Here lies Brelyna Maryon, slayer of furniture."

She was about to turn to pick up the pieces when she noticed a button behind the shelf. It was made of the same stone that surrounded it, it was barely visible. She put a hand on her mouth as temptation grew.

She looked back through the tunnels. Still nothing.

She pushed the button. Another mechanism rumbled behind the walls, another piece of the wall began to move sideways, a hidden door just like the entrance. She took a torch off the wall. The secret room was small, a single wooden table, an old chest placed on top. She stepped up and slowly opened it. Inside was a rusty Dunmeri dagger with traces of dried blood on it, a dusty notebook and a rough linen robe. She placed the torch on the wall inside the room and lifted up the robe. She gasped. It was tiny, no way Nephiah would fit in there.

Blood had formed patterns of spots and lines on both sides, the robe was torn in several places. She quickly put it back down and took a deep breath. She reached for the book as a hand grabbed her from behind.

Nephiah roughly pulled her out of the room and hit the button with her fist. She angrily looked at her as the door shut.

Brelyna felt terrible. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her, had she known what was in there she wouldn't have looked. "I'm sorry..."

Nephiah's expression didn't change. After a moment she lifted her left hand, presenting the two dead rabbits she'd been holding. Then she turned and left for the kitchen.

Brelyna reluctantly followed.

She leaned against the entrance to the room, she didn't dare step in. Nephiah slammed the rabbits down on the table.

"That robe..."

The butchers knife made a metallic swing as it moved through the air, the wood cracked as it was implanted deeply into the table's surface, decapitating both animals.

"...was it yours?"

Nephiah looked up at her, even angrier it seemed. She raised her left fist, drawing attention to the branding. "Still is.", she whispered. She picked up one of the rabbits and violently pulled off its fur in one powerful stroke.

"How old were you?"

She slammed the skinned animal back onto the table's surface and looked back at Brelyna, giving no further answer.

"All right. I'll stop asking." Brelyna crossed her arms and left for the living room with a bowed head.

She found a chair to sit in and placed her hands on her knees. She could still hear the butchers knife in the other room, slamming into the table a lot harder than it needed to. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and shook her head. After a while the noises stopped.

A moment later she could make out the rumbling of the door mechanism on the far end. She looked at the tunnel to the kitchen, focusing on any other sounds coming from there. After a while Nephiah stepped through. She had the notebook from the secret room in hand and looked at her. Then moved to the bed and sat down, looking at the book she now held in both hands.

A moment passed before Brelyna realized that Nephiah had sat down on the top half of the bed, leaving space on the bottom half for someone else. It was an invitation. She stood up and moved over.

As she sat down Nephiah inhaled deeply. Upon exhaling she handed the book over. Brelyna held it for a moment. "Do you know what's in here?"

She nodded.

"But you can't read."

She shook her head.

"But how can you..."

"I was there."

Brelyna slowly opened the cover. On the first page was written 'Notes on training techniques - Frokwulf - 4E 181'

"That was twenty years ago!" Surprised she looked at Nephiah who stared at the ground, not moving. Brelyna browsed through the pages. The last entry was dated as 16th of Sun's Dawn 4E 186. She looked back to her side. "Five years?"

Nephiah nodded slowly, still with an expressionless stare. "This Frokwulf... is he one of the people you are looking for?"

Nephiah closed her eyes. She very slowly shook her head.

Brelyna looked back at the book. She moved back to the first entry and began to read.


	13. Forever Yours

**Chapter 13: Forever Yours**

 _The heavy door swung open. Nephiah instantly got to her feet, crossed her hands behind her back and looked at the floor._

 _Frokwulf slowly stepped in, stopping halfway between her and the door. "Do you know what day it is.", he asked in his disturbing, calm voice. He didn't get a reaction, he didn't expect one. "Today is Heart's Day. The day that people all across Tamriel celebrate love in all its many forms." He gave of a short sarcastic laugh. "And as it so happens, it is our anniversary."_

 _Nephiah looked up at him._

 _"Yes, five years ago to the day, you arrived here and began your new life."_

 _Memories flashed through her mind, immense sadness settled in. She had pushed those memories out of her mind, hadn't thought of them for a very long time._

 _"And I thought we should celebrate with a gift."_

 _He gestured behind him, signaling someone else to enter. Hjornskar stepped through, pushing a young Bosmer boy in front of him. He was still wearing regular clothing, he must have been captured very recently._

 _"Listen.", he said, "I don't think the boss is going to like you removing items from our inventory like this." Frokwulf turned around and looked up. Hjornskar was a full head taller than him, taller than anybody, really._

 _"Our fearless leader doesn't have to know. You know how these raids go, chaos ensues, people die. It's not like your silence in the matter goes unrewarded."_

 _Hjornskar looked past him at Nephiah and grinned. Then he looked back at Frokwulf. "Make sure she's cleaned up this time. What do you think I am, some kind of savage?" He laughed and ungently pushed the boy forward, making him stumble and fall to the ground. Then he turned and left, closing the door behind him._

 _Frokwulf turned his attention back to Nephiah. "Wood Elves are such tiny, fragile creatures. Remember him?"_

 _Nephiah looked at the child cowering on the floor, crying softly._

 _"Remember that act of defiance and the result it yielded?" He took a rolled up whip from his belt, moved close to her and presented it._

 _Nephiah silently looked up at him, a tear rolling down her cheek._

 _"Do you remember how to count?"_

 _She nodded, looking at the whip in his stretched out hand._

 _"You will strike him..." He paused, she looked him in the eyes. "Well? How many times. Answer."_

 _"Ten times.", she said faintly after a moment, one could hear she didn't use her voice much._

 _"Take it." She took the whip and slowly stepped up to the boy. He was still cowering on the ground. While holding on to its handle, she let the end of the whip go, it dropped to the ground._

 _Frokwulf took a step back and watched with fascination._

 _Sadness was now clearly visible on Nephiah's face, even though she had trained herself to not show anything to the outside world, no matter how it hurt. She raised her arm, Frokwulf smiled in anticipation. The whip cracked down on the boy._

 _He instantly began to cry out in pain, another tear dropped from Nephiah's chin. She hesitated._

 _"Go on, nine more times.", Frokwulf said calmly._

 _The whip cracked down again._

 _"Please!", the boy cried._

 _A whimper almost escaped her as she raised her arm again. Another crack. The boy's cries of agony were unbearable, her arm remained at her side._

 _"SLAVE!", Frokwulf yelled menacingly._

 _Nephiah flinched and instantly raised her arm to bring the whip down yet another time. And another. It seemed to take forever to reach ten._

 _The boy was crying uncontrollably as tears and blood wet the floor boards beneath him._

 _Frokwulf stepped up behind her._

 _She turned and looked up, her cheeks glistening._

 _He took the whip off her, rolled it up and reattached it to his belt, all the while looking into her eyes. Then he reached behind his back and crouched down, now looking up at her. He produced an iron dagger with Dunmeri symbols carved into its hilt. "Remember this?" He held it up in front of her face. "You should, you had it on you when we found you."_

 _She silently stared at it. "Now for the final test. Pass it, and you will have shown you understand the world that surrounds you. Take the dagger."_

 _She looked at him not sure if that was the test._

 _"Go on.", he said reassuringly._

 _She hesitantly took the small blade that was resting on his open palm._

 _He instantly grabbed the boy and pulled him up in front of him. The sudden movement and loud cry of the boy made her flinch yet again. His right hand pressed the tiny torso against his chest, his left pulled his head back by the hair, exposing the throat. "Left to right, you've seen me do it."_

 _Nephiah was breathing heavily, her eyes started to beg him._

 _"Not a sound out of you.", he said more firmly. Then he whispered "Left... to right."_

Brelyna closed the book. She sniffed and wiped a tear away with her sleeve. She looked to her side, Nephiah was still staring at the ground, tears had formed in her eyes as the events that Brelyna was reading about shot through her mind.

"In his last entry...", Brelyna spoke softly, "...he wrote he was planning on having you kill a boy to see if your training was complete." She took a moment. "Did you do it?"

Nephiah looked at her, but said nothing. She didn't have to.

"Azura...", Brelyna said, slightly shaking her head. "So if you are hunting them, why not him?"

Nephiah closed her eyes, making tears spill down both sides of her face. Her expressionless face began to show the pain she felt. She turned her head back front.

"But..." Brelyna took a deep breath. "But that's not your fault! He made you do it!"

Nephiah made fists and rested her forehead on top of them.

"Nephiah, listen to me, it's not your fault!"

She squeezed her eyes shut.

Brelyna tossed the book aside and moved in front of her. She took Nephiah's face gently into both hands and raised it up so she would look at her. "It's not your fault.", Brelyna said very softly.

Nephiah opened her eyes and whispered. "But it is."

Nephiah quickly got to her feet, removing herself from Brelyna's touch. She began to pace up and down the room, breathing heavily, like an animal, trapped in a cage. "I don't exist. I don't EXIST!", she said like a mantra.

Brelyna got up and looked at her, not sure what to do.

"Nephiah, look at me, please!"

She wouldn't look at her. "I don't exist."

Instead she moved to the chalice in the middle of the room and slammed her right fist into the fire. As the flames did their work, the agony of it showed on her face, she opened her mouth wide as if to scream, yet no sound was to be heard.

Brelyna rushed towards her and pulled her away, holding her by the shoulders. "What are you doing?!" She checked her fist for damage, her Dunmer skin had protected her in the brief time it was exposed to the flames.

She looked back up. Nephiah's face was wet from sweat and tears, her heart was racing, her breathing fast and erratic. "The pain... drowns out the other."

She moved back towards the chalice, Brelyna instantly moved in front of her, trying to stop her movement. "All right, all RIGHT!", she yelled, despair in her voice, her hands pressing against Nephiah's shoulders. "You need something to drown it out then!"

Nephiah tried to move to the fire again.

Brelyna put her whole body weight into stopping her. "May I just make one suggestion?! Damnit!"

Nephiah stopped and looked at her impatiently, the fire within her burning ten times more painfully than the one in the chalice ever could. Brelyna didn't wait, she ceased the short break and grabbed Nephiah's face with both hands and pressed their lips together. She tasted of salty tears.

Nephiah remained restless, continuously shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

As Brelyna moved her head back and looked at her, agony was still written on her face.

Nephiah grabbed her shoulder to move her out of the way.

Brelyna looked into her eyes and read her intent, she was unsure how to stop her. Tapping into this energy had made her explode in a shockwave of blue light, why wouldn't it work now. It wasn't strong enough. "All right, Nephiah? Listen.", she hastily said, feeling the grip on her shoulder getting stronger. "So there is this series of books called 'The Lusty Argonian Maid'."

Nephiah looked at her, anger swelling up inside her. She needed the pain to stop, what in Oblivion was she going on about. She started to move her to the side.

Brelyna pushed against it but her small frame was no match for her. "Please! Just wait a minute!"

"What?!" She stopped pushing, but kept up the strong grip.

"What I'm trying to say is, I only know this from books, I have never done it myself."

With that Brelyna stuck her tongue out and licked Nephiah's face from the chin up to the nose tip. Startled and profoundly confused, Nephiah looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"That's how the Argonians do it, I swear!"

Silence.

"Well maybe I misread! Let's try this differently. " She moved back in until their lips met and stuck her tongue out. She was expecting to have to pry her lips open but instead was met with little resistance. As their tongues began to circle each other, Nephiah instantly loosened the grip on Brelyna's shoulders, her arms going limp and falling to her side. That was new.

Instead of pushing her away she now began to lean in, her arms moving back up in a passionate embrace that led her left hand to Brelyna's hip and her right to her neck.

Brelyna's hands moved from the front of Nephiah's shoulders under her arms to grab them from the back, pulling her close.

As the feeling of pleasure increased, Brelyna began to give off faint moans.

Nephiah remained silent. The raging fire inside her dimmed with every passing second, being replaced by something else. They detached, their arms relaxing their respective firm grips.

Brelyna exhaled slowly through pursed lips, her eyes still closed. She was a little bit dizzy. She eventually opened her eyes.

Nephiah's cheeks were red, blood rushed to her head, the intense feeling was new for the both of them.

"Is... is this doing anything for you?"

Without hesitation, Nephiah pulled her close again.

They began to move towards the bed, their tongues entangled, their heads tilting passionately left to right and right to left again. Without looking they hit the table instead. Nephiah's hand moved down and tossed it out of the way like it had no weight at all, knocking over the chair in the process.

Arriving at the bed, they sat down and let themselves fall to their sides, still intertwined.

Then suddenly, Nephiah stopped.

It took a moment to register for Brelyna. She moved her head back and saw Nephiah resting on the furs, not moving anymore, her breathing calm and steady. "Really?", she said realizing what just happened. She let herself fall to her back and gave off a few short laughs. She stared at the ceiling for a moment as her breathing calmed down.

She eventually pushed herself up and got to her feet. She found the table and placed it back where it belonged, turned the chair upright and sat down. She took a few deep breaths as a cocktail of endorphins and adrenalin was still rushing through her system. Eventually she put her elbows on the table and rested her forehead in her palms. "What am I going to do with you."

 _"Take the dagger."_

 _Nephiah looked at Frokwulf, not sure if that was the test._

 _"Go on.", he said reassuringly. She hesitantly took the small blade that was resting on his open palm._

 _He instantly grabbed the boy and pulled him up in front of him. The sudden movement and loud cry of the boy made her flinch yet again. His right hand pressed the tiny torso against his chest, his left pulled his head back by the hair, exposing the throat. "Left to right, you've seen me do it."_

 _Nephiah was breathing heavily, her eyes started to beg him._

 _"Not a sound out of you.", he said more firmly._

 _Then he whispered "Left... to right."_

 _Then he closed his eyes and moved his head to the right as far as he could, exposing his own throat._

 _Nephiah looked at him in shock. "Go on.", he whispered, "Kill him."_

 _Nephiah looked at the blade in her hand, at the crying child held by her captor, then him who continued to present his most vulnerable spot to her._

 _Without moving, he yelled. "SLAVE!"_

 _She instantly moved forward, pressed the blade against the boy's throat and moved it, left to right._

 _Blood began gushing out instantly, running over her hand, leaving spots on her face and robe. His cries turned to a violent gurgle, which faded very quickly. Eventually the boy stopped moving._

 _Frokwulf opened his eyes and turned back to her. He let the lifeless body drop to the floor and removed the dagger from her hand, as she stood there, frozen, eyes wide open, staring at the boy._

 _"See, you could have killed me instead."_

 _She fell to her knees and slowly turned her gaze upon him._

 _"And now, no matter what else happens, you are mine."_

 _The heavy door swung open. Two guards with Windhelm insignia on their armor rushed in, one of them had his bow already primed. Frokwulf turned in surprise. The guard spotted the man in bandit leathers with the dagger in hand and immediately released his arrow._

 _It impaled Frokwulf's head through the left eye, he instantly dropped to the floor, dead._

 _The open door revealed chaotic sounds of battle in the halls, both close by and far away. Bandits could be seen getting struck down by blades of guards in the distance. The two guards scanned the room for more hostiles but spotted only Nephiah, kneeling in the center of the room, covered in blood._

 _"There's another one.", one of them said._

 _Nephiah slowly reached out for them. "Help me..." She could barely speak in any kind of volume._

 _The guards relaxed their stance. "Get out of here.", one said. With that they turned and left._

 _The heavy door remained open._

 _Nephiah let her hands drop to her knees. She looked at Frokwulf's dead body, he was still twitching occasionally. Then she looked at the boy, lying in a giant pool of blood. Her breathing began to increase in speed, it got faster and faster until eventually she inhaled deeply, formed fists and let off an extremely loud, bone chilling cry of agony. It echoed far through the corridors._

It was still echoing in her head as she jumped up from the bed. She quickly looked around, breathing heavily from the nightmare.

Brelyna was sitting at the table, her head resting on her forearms, sleeping.

She took a few deep breaths, puffing her cheeks. Then she quickly moved to the storage room in the back. She grabbed a sword off the wall and rotated her wrist a few times, making the blade audibly cut through the air. Anger settled in on her face as she felt its weight, imagining what she was about to do with it. She sheathed it, grabbed a hand full of arrows off a shelf and left in a hurry.

Arriving back in the living room, she shoved the arrows into the quiver that leaned on the wall next to her hunting bow and the door switch. She moved the lever, the door began to open. She threw the quiver over her shoulder and grabbed the bow.

As she reached the table, she stopped. She looked down to Brelyna who was still sleeping. She was beautiful sitting there, so peaceful, so innocent. She bowed down and placed a kiss on her forehead. She then stepped outside and flipped the switch, the door closed shut.


	14. The Pup and the Giant

**Chapter 14: The Pup and the Giant**

 _"Hey there, little pup." The girl opened her eyes. Rays of morning light were shining through the window, a man kneeled at her bed, softly running his fingers through her hair._

 _She rubbed her eyes and recognized the kind face smiling down at her. "Hey there, papa wolf." She smiled, still in the process of waking up._

 _"Do you know what day it is?"_

 _She sat up and turned to let her feet dangle off the bed. "M-hm!", she nodded energetically, looking at her mother who was leaning in the doorway._

 _He got up and sat down on the bed beside her. "Well? What day is it then?"_

 _She looked up at her father, who was sitting to her left. "Heart's Day!" She grinned in anticipation, they always did something special on this day._

 _"That's right. The day that we make sure those we love know it. And you know what else is special about today?"_

 _She shook her head still smiling up at him. She knew exactly what he was going to say but she loved to hear him say it._

 _"Eight years ago to the day, the love of my life was brought into the world." He touched her nose tip with his finger, she giggled, the mother smiled at the tender scene. "Now I hear you've been busy."_

 _She stopped smiling and looked at him with big eyes._

 _"I hear you chased a rabid stray off the Sarethi Farm yesterday. Did you?"_

 _She slowly nodded._

 _"Despite our warnings and what we told you about wild animals? How dangerous they can be?"_

 _She nodded again._

 _"I heard you stopped it from attacking her sister. You kicked it in the nose as it jumped at her?"_

 _She stopped nodding, just looked up at him. "Well." He looked at his wife. "Since we can't do anything to stop you from your heroics..." He looked back at her. "I might as well show you how it's done. Today, you're going hunting with me."_

 _The girl gasped, then screamed in ecstasy, throwing her arms up and falling around his neck. He laughed and picked her up as she squeezed him tightly._

 _The door of the little farm house opened and he stepped outside. Morning fog was hanging between the trees, the rooster gave off his cry. He put her down. "Go on, little pup, get your practice bow."_

 _Without hesitation she ran to the shed beside the garden._

 _The mother stepped up behind him. "Please don't go too far.", she said to him with a worried look._

 _"She wants to go. Has been practicing with her bow for weeks."_

 _"Many rabid animals have been spotted lately. Just be careful."_

 _He kissed the back of her hand. "We will."_

 _The girl came running back, little black pigtails bouncing up and down. She held a child sized bow and a few wooden arrows with rounded tips._

 _"You can leave your practice arrows.", the father said._

 _The girl handed them over, he went back into the house and returned with a hunting bow and a quiver full of iron arrows. "Want to go hunt some game, little pup?"_

 _"Yes!" She turned and ran into the woods._

 _"Nephiah! Wait up!" He looked at his wife and laughed. "I guess there's no stopping this one." He ran after her._

 _They were walking slowly through the forest, pockets of fog still lingering in the trees and between the bushes. "So a rabid dog, you say.", he said looking down to his side._

 _"Mhm!"_

 _"And you chased it off by kicking it."_

 _"In the nose!"_

 _"Weren't you scared?"_

 _"It was just a dog, papa.", she said focusing on the woods, trying to spot animals. "Nose works for everything.", she added._

 _He looked at her, he was just a little bit proud. "Huh.", he said and looked back in front of him._

 _Cracking of wood was heard somewhere close by. They instantly stopped and looked around carefully. A deer was grazing a few meters away, it's back turned to them. He slowly crouched down, she looked at him and mimicked his movements. Her heart started beating faster._

 _He took an arrow from his quiver and handed it to her, she looked at him with excited eyes. He whispered. "The head or the neck." The arrow had a sharp iron tip. She primed her bow and began to aim. "Just as we practiced. Hold it steady, aim just above your target, hold your breath, release."_

 _She aimed carefully, watching the deer's every movement. The world around her seemed to have fallen silent, it was only her, the bow in her hands and the target in front of her. She squeezed an eye shut, held her breath and fired._

The arrow shot through the air, its trajectory forming a slight curve until it was expertly implanted in the neck of the Stormcloak soldier. He gurgled briefly and fell to the ground. Nephiah silently rushed towards him, in a crouched position. They had many sentries posted around the camp, she would have to deal with all of them first.

Another one, twenty meters away. She primed another arrow, aimed quickly and released it. The soldier dropped into the knee-high bushes, again not making much of a sound.

She moved between the trees for a while, picking them off one by one, remaining concealed by the dark of night.

The camp itself was made of several tents, a campfire burned in its center, providing the only source of light. One of the tents was larger than the others, it had a Stormcloak banner hanging over its entrance. It let her know that her target was likely inside, the innkeeper had said that Hjornskar was in charge of the camp.

She crouched down behind a large rock, half way between the camp and the tree line and observed. Three more guards were sitting around the camp fire, no way of telling how many remained sleeping in the tents. And there he was.

Hjornskar stood at the entrance to the camp, a dirt road lead away from it. He was talking to a man on a horse, he had his back turned to her. Hjornskar was tall enough to not have to look up to the man on the horse.

Nephiah reached up to grab another arrow from the quiver on her back. Empty. She must have spent all of her ammunition on the sentries. She pressed her lips together and looked back at him, slowly reaching for her blade.

"You could always join us. You don't like the pointy eared rabble any more than I do.", Hjornskar said to the man on the horse.

"The military and I don't mix, old friend."

Nephiah's stern eyes opened in surprise, she knew the other voice as well. "Siegalf...", she whispered. She unsheathed the sword and began to move out of cover.

"Hey!", a whispered shout sounded from behind her. Startled she turned around, fell to her back and shoved herself back behind the rock.

Brelyna was crouching at the edge of the woods. "What are you doing?!", she whispered again.

"Shh!" Nephiah didn't want her here, considering what was about to happen. But since she was, she made a quick gesture for her to get over to her and stay low.

As she arrived she sat down and leaned her back against the rock. "You could have woken me up!", she said nudging Nephiah's arm with her fist.

Nephiah put a finger over her lips. "Shh!" She turned around and looked at the camp again.

"There's a group called the Vigilants, some place up north. They are hunting Deadra worshippers or something. Word is they recruit. Apparently, and you'll like this, they are up against Vampires and need more manpower."

"Vampires.", Hjornskar looked at him with surprise and then smiled, "Small world."

Siegalf laughed. "Right. Well, I don't really care, they have a lot less waiting and a lot more ale up there."

"Well, you know where to find me if things don't work out."

"Have fun killing Imperials." With that he turned the horse and galloped away.

Hjornskar calmly stepped to the fire and held his hands to it.

Brelyna looked at him with big eyes. "You were going to fight HIM?!"

She looked back at Nephiah, she nodded.

"Alone?!"

She nodded again. Brelyna turned back to the camp and stared at the man, towering over his peers. "Is he part giant? Look at him, he's enormous!"

Nephiah gave him another short look over her shoulder. She remembered he seemed infinitely bigger up close. She looked back at Brelyna trying the process the new situation. She really didn't want her here.

"Well aren't you glad I figured out where you were going to go?", Brelyna said watching Hjornskar take off his officer's cloak and enter his tent. "You will find it very useful to have a mage watching your back."

With that Nephiah grabbed her from behind and pulled her close to her chest. Her right arm had a firm grip over her upper body, pressing her arms to her side, her left covered her mouth. Brelyna tried to turn her head to look at her, shock in her eyes. But she was firmly held in place.

Nephiah moved her mouth to Brelyna's ear and whispered. "These aren't Falmer. Nor are they undead."

She let go of her mouth,

Brelyna turned her head and looked her deeply in the eyes, the flickering camp fire reflecting in them.

She was dead serious. "He is here. I will not stop."

Brelyna noticed the rising fury in her voice, her eyes. She scared her a little. "And those who protect him, whoever comes, I'll kill them all."

That particular look on Nephiah's face had always scared her. But now she knew the ground that nurtured it.

"Are you sure you want to help?"

Brelyna nodded slowly.

Nephiah looked at her for a moment.

Then she moved her left forearm under Brelyna's chin and began to press upwards. "What are you doing...", Brelyna said gasping for air, struggling. Nephiah kept the pressure up, she closed her eyes, turned her head away and waited. Eventually Brelyna lost consciousness, her body fell limp.

Nephiah looked back at the camp, still holding her tight. None of the guards sitting at the fire had heard the struggle. She moved her hand under Brelyna's nose, there was steady breathing. She grabbed her under her arms and dragged her back to the tree line.

She hastily looked around. She should take her back home but she had already killed the sentries. By the time she got back here, it would be morning and they would have noticed.

She dragged her under a bush and covered her up with a few handfuls of brown tree leaves. The last handful was to cover her face, Nephiah paused. This wasn't her fight, not her world. Nor should it be. So kind, so little weight on her shoulders. She tossed the final handful of leaves in place and turned towards the camp, the look on her face changing from dark to darker. She couldn't deny her argument. A mage would have been good to have at her side. But Brelyna had been the only influence she had ever known to stop her rage. She needed her rage now. More than Brelyna. She wouldn't let her interfere.

The soldier's eyes opened wide as he was awoken by a blade crossing his throat and a hand pressing down on his mouth. He didn't struggle long.

Nephiah looked up and snuck to the tent entrance.

The soldiers were still sitting around the campfire. "I find him scary.", one said. "Good thing he is on our side."

"Have you seen him fight? I've seen him implant that warhammer of his into a man's chest so deep, it got stuck."

"Yes... and he likes to go for the head too. Trips you and then caves it in with one blow." He shuddered. "I guess that's how he got his name."

"Good thing he's on our side."

Nephiah blew the hair out of her face. She hadn't noticed before now but since it was now clean, it was more likely to move and obstruct her vision during a fight. She moved back and tore a piece of fabric off the corpses armor. She bound her hair behind her head and left the tent through the hole she had cut into its back side.

Silently she moved to the next tent and cut another hole. Nobody in there.

"Well, I'll find a tree for some private business.", she heard a voice coming from the camp fire. She immediately moved into the bushes and observed. The soldier moved past the tent, opening a slot in the crotch region of his armor as he went. He found an old tree stump and began to relieve himself. The sound of water dripping onto the ground stopped as Nephiah grabbed him from behind to hold his chest with her left arm and his mouth with her right. A quick and strong movement made his neck snap. She carefully put him down, it was almost noiseless.

She drew her sword and moved towards the fire.

Staying low and silent, she approached the remaining guards, their back turned to her, ready to strike them both down as fast as possible.

"How long do you need to take a piss?", one of the guards yelled over his shoulder.

Then he looked back and spotted her, only a few meters away. He gasped as he realized what he saw and hit his comrade on the arm, notifying him of the danger. In a reflex action, Nephiah lifted her sword and threw it at him. It made swishing noises as it flew towards him, rotating on its axis, until it impaled him squarely through the chest, making him topple over.

The other guard had time to stand up and reach for his sword but Nephiah had begun to charge him immediately after letting go of the blade. The second his sword was drawn he felt her shoulder ramming into his guts. She lifted him up and let him drop to his back behind her.

As he struggled to get back to his feet, she put a foot to the dead soldier, grabbed her sword and pulled it out. She lifted it up and used the momentum of turning around to slash his torso diagonally from left to right. He gave off a scream of pain and sank to the ground.

Another tent opened, two guards stepped outside, their weapons already drawn.

She grabbed the steel sword at her feet with her left hand as they ran over to her and immediately got back up to block their blows, one with the sword in her left hand, one with the sword in her right. She pushed them both back, they raised their wooden shields and assumed a defensive position. She rotated both her wrists, making the swords swish through the air as she looked at them like a wolf looks at its prey.

They charged again. She blocked the one to her left. But as the sword to her right came down, she intercepted its trajectory from below, the force making him lose hold of it. She instantly turned once around, again using the speed of the movement to implant the sword deeply into his shoulder. She let go of it as he sank to his knees and fell to his side.

The sword in her left was tossed to her right and instantly brought up to block another high blow from the remaining guard. She took a swing but he blocked with his shield and instantly thrust his sword forward at chest height. She evaded and caught his sword arm under her left, pulling him close. His joints cracked as she tightened her grip and move him upwards, dislocating his shoulder. He screamed in pain for a second before her sword pierced his stomach and was moved upwards, its tip exiting between his shoulder blades. His chin rested on her shoulder as he gave off his final blood-filled gasps. She let him drop down.

"You Dunmer bitch!", the deep voice yelled over the camp yard.

She looked up, breathing heavily.

Hjornskar was standing outside his tent and looked at her with anger and surprise in his eyes. "What have you done to my men?"

She grabbed another dead man's sword.

He reached inside the tent and brought forth his warhammer. It was huge and heavy, yet he held it with one hand. Its head had a flat side and one with a massive curved edge. He began to menacingly walk towards her. His footsteps were so heavy, she could hear them disturbing the ground. He came to a halt at the campfire.

Nephiah was standing on the other side of it.

Thunder rumbled above. Rain began to fall, first a few drops, then lighting illuminated the dark clouds for a split second and the sky opened up. They began to circle the flickering campfire, keeping it between them.

"Wait a minute.", he said with a smirk. "Don't i know you?"

She threw the iron sword into the ground and grabbed the other one tightly with both hands. His words were fuel for the fire raging inside of her.

He began to laugh loudly. "It's Frokwulf's pet!"

She stopped moving.

"Look at you all grown up." He grabbed the end of the hammer with his other hand and held it defensively in front of him as he smiled at her. "So? You're just going to stand there?"

She charged.

She used the fire's edge as a stepping stone, jumping across with the sword raised high above her head. She brought it down with a furious cry, the metal clashing loudly as it hit the hilt of his hammer. He had his arms stretched out as it hit but the force of the impact pushed it close to his chest so he had to move his head back to avoid the blade cutting his face.

He had now gauged her strength.

He pushed back, shoving Nephiah backwards a fair bit, making her stumble over the fire. She quickly got back to her feet on the other side.

"Is that all you got?", he said, his amusement showing on this face. The rain came down hard, another flash shot across the sky, another sounding of thunder shook the leaves in the trees.

She charged again.

She swung the blade sideways, aiming to slash his waist on his left side. His right hand quickly let go of the hammer, his left hand twisted down, making the hammer fall like a pendulum, redirecting the sword outwards.

She got thrown off balance and left vulnerable to his right hand which moved in, grabbed her neck and lifted her off the ground with ease. She lost the sword and moved both hands up to try to pry open his grip. She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth as he began to tighten his hold.

"Look at that passion!" He seemed to be well entertained as she dangled on his stretched-out arm in front of him. "Have you missed me that much?"

The sensation of his hand choking her wasn't new. Images shot into her mind of her on the ground, him above her, his hand around her neck. She opened her eyes, the fury took over.

She began to swing her legs back and forth till she reached him. Putting one foot above the other she reached his shoulders, lifted a foot and rammed her heel squarely onto his nose.

It cracked, blood spilled out instantaneously. He let go and held his face, turning away from her, screaming in pain.

After landing on the ground, Nephiah fell to her hands and knees as she needed a moment to get her breath back, coughing, holding her neck with one hand.

Lightning. Thunder.

Hjornskar turned around. No trace of amusement on his face any more, just the lust to kill. He grabbed his hammer and began to swing.

Nephiah pushed herself off the ground and stumbled backwards and the massive hammer hit the ground just in front of her. It shook the earth, splattered muddy rain water in a large radius, she fell onto her back. She shoved herself backwards through the mud as best she could as he brought the hammer down again, growling with every movement. This time she had to spread her legs for them to not get crushed, his long leg span allowed him to close in faster than she could get away.

He brought the hammer up over his head a third time. She had reached a dead soldier, grabbed his shield and raised it into the hammer's path which led right to her chest.

The shield shattered on impact, concussing her arm, she let off a short scream.

He looked down at her. "I'm sure there is a story how you got from there to here." He sniffed and wiped blood off his mouth. More deep thunder sounded through the night. "But that story ends here."

She turned her head away and closed her eyes.

He raised the hammer and brought it down.

An ice spike was fired from the tree line at tremendous speed. It shattered on the hammer's head as it came down on Nephiah. It's force moved the hammer to the side, making it miss the target.

Hjornskar turned around and spotted Brelyna leaving the shadows. "You're not one of ours, you don't look that broken! Yet!"

Brelyna's heart pounded in her chest as the huge Nord screamed at her. She fired another spike.

It shattered on his chest without effect. He looked down and back at her with a superior grin. "I'm a Nord, numb nuts! We are MADE of ice!"

He grabbed a dead soldier by the ankle with one hand and hurled it at her in an arc. Startled by the unlikeliness of the maneuver she stumbled backwards, the corpse landed on her and knocked her over. She had trouble moving the armored soldier off of her.

Nephiah turned, her eyes on fire. As he placed his attention back on her, she lifted both her feet and rammed her heels into both his knee caps. He screamed and fell to his knees, screaming again from the repeated impact.

He was holding his hammer in front of him with both hands, she grabbed hold of it in the middle and pulled herself towards him, letting her forehead collide with his already bleeding nose. He screamed again and violently moved the hammer to the left and then the right, hurling Nephiah away. She landed in the mud a few meters away.

He stood up and walked over to her. "Like it rough, huh?! I like it rough too!" He grabbed her by the neck yet again, lifted her up and crashed his forehead into hers. And again. And again.

After a fourth violent hit he tossed her away.

She landed at the edge of the fire. She was dizzy, her ears were ringing, her vision blurred, blood ran down her face. She began to crawl away from him on hands and knees, trying to get a hold of her surroundings.

"Well well well!", he said, slowly stepping closer, the hammer resting on his shoulder. "Now I really remember you!" He put a foot to her rear and pushed, making her fall into the mud face first.

She was breathing heavily, blowing away blood and dirty rain water that ran down her face.

"How I would love to reminisce, but I have a war to win." He brought the hammer up again.

Brelyna rushed in and cowered over Nephiah, instinctively raising an arm up to block the blow.

He stopped. "Isn't that cute. Well I bet I can get the two of you in one hit." He rotated the hammer so that the curved edge pointed down and struck.

Brelyna's ward was invisible. The blue half sphere only showed when the hammer contacted it.

Lightning sparked at the contact point, he was thrown back forcefully, crashing into a tent behind him.

Surprised, Brelyna looked at him for a second, then her raised arm. She hadn't brought the ward up. And even if she did, a ward blocks magic, not weapons.

She turned Nephiah to her back and shook her shoulders. "Wake up, damnit!" She heard the rumbling of Hjornskar fighting his way out of the tent behind her. "Nephiah!"

"You bitch! I'm going to have a field day with you!" He stood in the debris, removing the last bit of tent leather from his shoulder.

Brelyna charged a fire ball and released it.

He evaded it with one giant step. "See? You are learning!" He ran over to her with heavy steps and before the next fire ball was ready he reached her, grabbed the arm she was casting with. He twisted it until the cracking noise let him know it had popped out of the shoulder socket. Brelyna screamed as the arm fell limp to her side, she couldn't move it.

"Let's see you perform any tricks now."

He grabbed her other arm, she screamed in fear. "No! Please!" Her pleading cry echoed through Nephiah's head, she opened her eyes. As her vision came into focus she saw him towering over Brelyna, twisting her left arm slowly, cries of pain sounding through the thunder storm.

She reached into the campfire beside her.

Another crack, Brelyna's left arm fell down her side. She cried in pain as Hjornskar looked down at her, smiling sadistically. She fell to her side and revealed Nephiah, holding a burning log from the fire. It hurt, but this pain she was used to.

His smile turned to surprise as he identified the scene in front of him.

Nephiah swung the log upwards with all her strength until it was stopped by his crotch. There she held it, pressing upwards as he began to scream in agony. He fell to his knees and grabbed the log which was glowing in bright orange from the fire. She kept up the tight grip and reinforced the upwards movement once more, putting her upper body behind it. His screaming continued, partly from the burning log in his crotch, partly because his hands burned as well.

He struck Nephiah across the face with the back of his hand, making her topple over and flung the burning log through the air. His hands moved between his legs towards the injured area, he fell to the ground, moaning.

Nephiah got to her feet and found one of the soldier's swords. She slowly walked up behind him as he was still curled up on the ground. "Now that I see you on your hands and knees...", she said menacingly, her fire fueled by memory.

He looked up at her, agony in his eyes.

She clenched her teeth as various images flashed through her mind, him standing over her, removing his armor, moving on top of her, grabbing her throat. She screamed in rage and rammed the sword into his tail end until the hilt stopped the movement.

The immense pain of the blade running upwards through his guts silenced him.

She let go of the blade, leaving it in place. His eyes opened wide as blood shot from both ends of his body.

Nephiah's breaths were loud, a mixture of exertion and rage as she paced up and down, watching him die. Eventually he fell to his side and stopped moving.

The faint crying of Brelyna brought her back to reality. She quickly turned her onto her back, grabbed the collar of her robe and dragged her backwards into the officer's tent. Brelyna gave off a scream as the motion began, she was in a lot of pain.

Once inside, Nephiah leaned her on the wall of the tent and checked her shoulders. They were both dislocated. "You weren't supposed to be here.", Nephiah said grabbing an upper arm with her left and the lower arm with her right.

Brelyna didn't answer, she wasn't used to this kind of punishment.

Nephiah looked her in the eye. "This is going to hurt."

Brelyna nodded briefly, the pain clearly visible on her face.

Nephiah tightened her grip and made a quick upwards movement. The shoulder cracked as it was set into place. Brelyna gave off a scream, followed by a few whimpers.

Nephiah grabbed the other arm in a similar manner. "One more time." Brelyna closed her eyes and nodded again. Another crack, another short scream and it was over.

Nephiah stood up, turned around and walked a few steps, the rain was falling loudly onto the tent's roof. She was exhausted, dizzy, hurting all over.

Brelyna noticed she could move her arms again, even though her shoulders were still very sore. She moaned as she pushed herself into an upright sitting position. A moment passed as they both were still catching their breath, thunder rolling through the night sky.

Nephiah had a screaming headache, she didn't even notice the bruises on her neck, her arm or the burn marks on her palm. A pair of fur bracers was lying on the table, she took one and pressed it against the bleeding wound on her forehead.

"Why...", Brelyna said after a while.

Nephiah turned around. "You weren't supposed to be here."

"Excuse me? You would have died out there if it weren't for me!"

Nephiah pointed at her shoulders, she got angry. "This is what I didn't want!"

Brelyna got to her feet and moved her hands up to rub her aching shoulders. She took a step closer. "Do you want to die?!"

Nephiah stopped cold.

Brelyna looked at her, shocked at the realization that she had asked the right question.

Nephiah made fists and closed her eyes. "This is not your fight."

Brelyna took another step towards her. "I'm pretty sure I can decide for myself which battles to fight."

Nephiah turned away from her. "You should leave."

"You want to die, don't you!" Brelyna stepped up to her, grabbed her shoulder and turned her around so she would look at her. "You're going to fight them one by one until you find one that kills you! Is that the plan?!" Her voice quivered as she spoke.

Nephiah opened her eyes. "Leave." She moved passed her to the exit.

Brelyna turned and yelled. "I love you!"

Nephiah stopped moving. Brelyna herself was surprised that she articulated it that clearly.

Nephiah turned around. The anger on her face was gone, replaced by sadness. "I won't stop. I can't."

Brelyna nodded slightly and whispered "I know..."

Nephiah took a step towards her. "You don't know... It's who I am..." Her head hung low, she couldn't look her in the eye.

"I know!" Brelyna rushed towards her and took her face in both her hands. "But you are also good at heart! How can you make me feel this way if you aren't? You were someone else before they took you and that you are as well!"

Nephiah looked up into her eyes, her voice was full of fear, pleading so sincerely. "And... and... and I love you!"

Brelyna was struggling to find the breath to speak as she was fighting against tears filling her eyes.

Nephiah closed her eyes again and slowly shook her head.

"And I'm scared! I'm scared of what will happen if I leave and I'm scared of what will happen if I stay! And I love you and I don't want you to die!" She let off a few whimpers, unable to contain them any longer. "Because you exist, you hear me!", she cried, "You do exist! Because I love you, damnit!"

Nephiah opened her eyes, tears forming in them.

"So I'm going to help you, all right? I'll help you not to die. If you'll let me."

And then, finally, Nephiah believed her.

She moved forward and kissed Brelyna passionately. She reached to her bottom and lifted her off the ground, their lips never losing contact.

Brelyna moaned as the magic of her kiss began to counteract the various types of pain she was in.

Nephiah carried her back to the table and put her down on top of the giant map of Skyrim that was laid out on it.

Brelyna fell to her back and smiled up at her. "Don't fall asleep on me now."

That was the last thing Nephiah heard and saw as a sharp pain shot through her head. Her vision blurred, sounds faded away, she lost balance.

"Nephiah?"

She collapsed to the ground.

"Nephiah!" Brelyna jumped off the table and kneeled down beside her. She shook her shoulders. "Wake up!" She held her ear to her face, the breathing was faint. She pressed their lips together, there was nothing. No magic, no warmth, no safety. Just the sound of heavy rain falling. "Wake up, damnit!", she cried, shaking her shoulders again. "I have just found you!" Her cry echoed through the storm. "Wake up!"


	15. Guardian

**Chapter 15: Guardian**

"Nonononono..." Brelyna was muttering to herself as she nervously rummaged through a supply crate in the infirmary tent. "Not now, not now... Come on, come ON!" There wasn't much of use left. "Why is there only rope and rags in here?!"

She found a bandage and a minor healing potion.

She rushed back to the officer's tent where she had already placed some furs under Nephiah's head. She quickly kneeled down, opened Nephiah's lips and began to carefully pour the potion into her mouth. The small bottle emptied quickly, she checked the breathing again. Seemed a little more stable. She bandaged up the head wound.

"All right, all right..." She took a deep breath. "Now what." She looked around.

Spotting the horses on the far end of the camp, she quickly ran over and lead one to the entrance of the tent. Then she stopped moving, looking at Nephiah, lying there. She realized there would be no way for her to lift a person up onto a horse. She was trained in the ways of the mind, spent her days reading books, there wasn't too much heavy lifting required of her.

"Damnit." She took another two fur cloaks from the pile in the corner. While the camp was spent on healing items, there apparently was no shortage of things that keep you warm. She threw one over her shoulder and placed the other one over Nephiah like a blanket.

She kneeled down. "I'm going to get help. Please don't die." She placed a kiss on her cheek and rushed out to climb the horse. Riding lessons were mandatory at a young age in her family, she never thought it would come in handy some day.

She looked around at the chaos in the camp, then at Nephiah one last time. "I'll be only a moment."

She turned the horse and disappeared into the night.

 _"That was too high."_

 _The arrow had missed the deer by a narrow margin, the noise had chased it away._

 _Nephiah pushed herself up out of the dry leaves on the ground. She wasn't used to firing from a crouched position and had fallen over. She looked at her father with an angry look on her face._

 _He giggled as he removed leaves from her hair. Whenever she got frustrated at her level of skill, he found it terribly cute. He had observed it plenty of times practicing with her at home. "Don't worry. We'll find another one."_

 _A wolf began to growl somewhere close by. Both instantly tensed up and looked around to see where it was coming from. Waist high bushes were growing everywhere, they couldn't see it. They could merely narrow down the direction by ear. Then the sound stopped._

 _They looked at each other, her father pointed at her bow. She grabbed another arrow and readied it to fire. He removed the dagger from his belt, they both observed the area from which the sound was last heard closely. It was dead silent._

 _The wolf jumped out of the bushes in front of them with a bone chilling growl. Startled, Nephiah let go of the arrow, it hit the ground beside the animal jumping at her. She fell to her back and defensively held her bow up._

 _Her father threw himself into its path and began to wrestle with it until he ended up on his back, the wolf on top of him. He tried to push its chest up with his left hand and grabbed its neck with his right and pulled. It lunged down time and again, he had trouble avoiding the bite._

 _Nephiah pushed herself to her feet and looked at the scene, not sure what to do._

 _"Nephiah! Run!", her father yelled, trying to keep hold of the rabid wolf._

 _She hastily looked around for which way was home. Then she saw the short blade on the ground, partly hidden by leaves. Her father must have lost it when he wrestled the wolf._

 _Without thinking she grabbed it and threw herself against the side of the animal, pushing it off her father. They both crashed onto the ground next to him, it instantly stopped moving. The father immediately jumped up and lifted his daughter off the animal, revealing his dagger sticking out of its temple._

 _He took a few exerted breaths as he looked down on it, realizing that his eight-year-old had just saved his life. He looked at her and slowly put her down. Her eyes were wide open, fixed on the wolf, she didn't move._

 _After a moment, he removed the dagger from the wolf's skull. He crouched down in front of his daughter and looked up at her._

 _"A long time ago, before you were born...", he began to say as he removed leaves and twigs from her clothing. "...your mother and I were living in Morrowind on the land of a noble Dunmer house. House Redoran it was called, they were fierce warriors."_

 _She removed her gaze from the wolf and looked him in the eyes._

 _"One day, one of their fighters came to our door, he was terribly wounded. We took him in and nursed him back to health." He wiped the blood off the dagger on the ground, grabbed the tip of the blade and held it up in front of her. "Out of gratitude he gave us this dagger. He said that every soldier of their house is given one when they swear their oath to protect their land and the people living in it." He took her hand and placed the dagger on her palm. "Now it's yours."_

 _She looked at the dagger with reverence. For as long as she could remember, her father had carried it._

 _He pointed at the Dunmeri symbols that were engraved into its hilt. "Know what that means?"_

 _She looked back at him and slowly shook her head._

 _He smiled at her and removed a drop of blood from her cheek with his thumb. "One of these days, little pup, if we find a way to keep you sitting still for five minutes, we ought to teach you to read."_

"Who taught you to ride?!" Colette was trying her best to hold on to Brelyna as she pushed the horse to its limits. "Ease off, will you? I'm not used to this kind of transportation!" She struggled to stay on the horse as it rushed through the night, over adverse terrain, jumping over rocks and fallen trees.

"It's not far now!"

Skyrim's horses were big and fat and slow and nothing like what Brelyna knew from back home. But they sure had stamina. She had pushed the horse as hard as she could for hours and it didn't show any inclination towards slowing down. Eventually the light of a campfire appeared in the distance. "There!"

"Gods!" The horse stopped right in front of the officer's tent, Brelyna jumped right off.

Colette looked around in shock. "You did all this?!"

"This way!" Brelyna was standing just inside, gesturing at her to follow.

Colette shook her head and got off the horse. Once inside she crouched down beside Nephiah who was still lying there, undisturbed. She removed the bandage on her head and reviewed the damage. "I think this person is a terrible influence on you.", said Colette.

"Can you help? Please!" Brelyna had never been more afraid in her entire life, not even when the giant held on to her arm. Her love was lying there, on the brink of not being there anymore. She had no way of dealing even with the possibility.

Colette placed her palm on Nephiah's forehead, another one on her bruised forearm. They began to emit a golden glow for a moment, then she let go.

Brelyna was nervously watching her do her work.

Hands were placed on Nephiah's neck and temple. Another restoration spell and Colette was done. She took a deep breath and looked at Brelyna who looked back at her with fearful eyes, awaiting her diagnosis.

She stood up, removed her backpack and handed it over. "I have seen this condition before. Healing her body is only part of it. Whether she ever wakes up, is something she must decide for herself. I have seen people come back after a few days, others didn't come back at all."

Brelyna looked at Nephiah and then back at Colette, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"In there are all the healing potions we had in the alchemy lab. If she doesn't wake in a week, give her one every day. It will keep her body strong and healthy even though she isn't moving."

Brelyna opened the lid of the backpack, there was a good number of potions, big and small. "You can't come back to the college. You have been expelled, the Arch Mage is furious. He placed a bounty on both of you in Winterhold."

Brelyna was breathing heavily at hearing the news. She knew there would be consequences but the finality of it knocked the wind out of her.

"Neloth is also out there looking for you. He was really angry when he awoke. So find a place to hide and make those potions last."

"Thank you...", Brelyna said faintly.

Colette gently touched her cheek and smiled. "There is no spell strong enough to heal the wounds dealt by love."

Brelyna looked her in the eye.

"Oh don't look so surprised, child. I've been in love once too, you know." She left the tent and stopped to look back at them. "I wish you luck. Gods know you'll need it." Then she began to walk down the path leading out of the camp.

"Don't you want the horse?" Brelyna yelled after her.

"Are you crazy?", Colette yelled back without turning around. "I'm not riding that blasted thing! Whiterun isn't far west from here, I'll take a carriage like normal people!" She disappeared in the darkness.

Brelyna stepped outside. Dawn was on the horizon. She realized she better be gone before day break, there was no telling when people would come looking to have dealings with the camp.

She rushed to the torn down tent and dragged out leathers and long pieces of wood that had held them upright. It didn't take her long to fashion a make shift stretcher out of wood, furs and leather strips. She usually wasn't good with her hands but then again, she didn't really think about what she was doing. Her mind was focused on one singular goal. Getting Nephiah out of there.

After rolling her onto the stretcher, she lifted one end of it up and dragged it to the horse. There she strapped it on to the saddle, the horse wouldn't have any trouble pulling the weight. A few final strips of leather ensured Nephiah wouldn't fall off on the way, for the stretcher was leaning on the horse like a ramp.

Finally, she got on and looked back at her precious cargo. "If this turns out to be something that happens every two days with you, we are going to have words!"

The stone door opened, revealing Brelyna who was slowly dragging Nephiah backwards. She was exhausted. The ride home had taken long, but getting Nephiah down the hole and past the traps without setting any of them off had taken even longer.

She eventually reached the bed and placed her onto it. As she had finally reached safety, she sank to the floor and leaned her back to the bed.

After a few exerted breaths she turned her head and looked at Nephiah lying there, looking very peaceful. "You are heavy, has anyone ever told you that?"

After a moment of rest she pushed herself to her feet and looked around. The fire in the center chalice was still flickering, so were a few of the torches on the wall. She sighed. "I guess this is home now."

She put the backpack down beside the bed and walked into the kitchen. Something was brewing in the kettle over the fire place, the stones around which were still giving off heat.

She walked up to it and lifted the lid. She immediately recognized the smell greeting her upon opening the kettle. "Rabbit stew!" She looked to the doorway leading to the living room. Nephiah must have whipped something together for her earlier. She put on a melancholy smile as she put the lid back onto the kettle.

She walked to the storage area. She began rubbing her shoulders as suddenly the pain made its presence known again. The chaos from Nephiah tossing the shelf over was still there.

The small secret room was also still open, Nephiah hadn't the mind to close it when she got the notebook earlier. She took another look into the chest. The robe and the dagger were still lying in there. She lifted up the dagger. It was rusted and had traces of dried blood on it. But she recognized the design, she had been educated in Dunmer politics early on. It was made by House Redoran. She also recognized the symbols that were artfully carved into it. They formed just the one word, 'guardian'. "Hm." She put it back down.

Back in the living area she found herself in front of the pile of books. Browsing the titles she found one called 'The Artfulness of Dual Wielding'. She pulled it out of the pile and opened it.

It had descriptions of various combat techniques with illustrations, it was very detailed. "You would have liked this one."

She carried it over to the bed and sat down at Nephiah's side. She looked at her, sadness sinking in as she gently brushed strands of hair out of her face. "Well, since you can't read, I'll just have to read it to you."

She nodded reaffirmingly and opened the book. "The Artfulness of Dual Wielding by Fenin Marqiditte. Dual Wielding is the single most demanding form of combat on the warrior. No shield provides protection and both hands must be coordinated perfectly for an imprecise block or a missed thrust may be deadly."

Brelyna took a deep breath. She was reading to her love, unsure if she would ever wake up. If she would ever look into her beautiful eyes, have her looking back. If she would ever...

She focused on the text in front of her. "However the skilled warrior can engage multiple enemies simultaneously with an effectiveness unrivaled by other fighting styles." Her voice started to shake, she closed her eyes and slammed the book shut. "Damnit."

She let the book drop to the floor.

She lay down closely at Nephiah's side, took her hand and brought it up to her lips. She placed a gentle kiss on it as she began to give off faint whimpers. "Come back to me? Please?", she faintly said.

She moved her thumb over the back of Nephiah's hand, up and down, up and down, looking at her closed eyes.

She looked more at peace now than ever before. "Is this what you want..."

After a moment of silence she placed another kiss on her hand, pushed herself up and let herself slide to the floor. She began to whisper, tears forming in her eyes. "Azura, mother of roses, goddess of dusk and dawn. Let your wisdom guide your daughter, so she may know the shadows in the light and the light in the darkness. Watch over her spirit, for it has suffered so much. Guide her wherever her path may lead. Even if it is away from me." She put her head on her knees and began to cry.


	16. Amo Ergo Sum

**Chapter 16: Amo Ergo Sum**

 _"Now it's yours."_

 _Nephiah looked at the dagger with reverence. For as long as she could remember, her father had carried it._

 _He pointed at the Dunmeri symbols that were engraved into its hilt. "Know what that means?"_

 _She looked back at him and slowly shook her head._

 _He smiled at her and removed a drop of blood from her cheek with his thumb. "One of these days, little pup, if we find a way to keep you sitting still for five minutes, we ought to teach you to read."_

 _"Reading is boring!", she said, not pleased by the proposition._

 _Her father laughed. "You are going to have to learn eventually."_

 _There was that frustrated look on her face again._

 _He looked at her for a moment. "You have a fire within you, little pup. I don't know where you have gotten it, but there it is. And it burns fiercely for the people you care about."_

 _Nephiah looked at him with fascination. She knew the feeling he was describing yet hadn't had a way to name it._

 _"It will always lead you to a place where you can do good, just like the Sarethi farm, just like today. It is the very essence of who you are. Listen to that fire, Nephiah, you will always know what to do."_

 _A scream echoed through the woods. They instantly looked into the direction it was coming from._

 _Nephiah recognized the voice, it was her mother's._

 _They began to run._

 _She had trouble keeping up, his wife's repeated screams calling him to her urgently._

 _She was a few meters behind him when he got thrown back and landed on the ground in front of her. It was then she saw the arrow sticking out of his chest. She gasped. "Papa!" She ran over and dropped to her knees. She grabbed the arrow, he screamed in pain, she instantly let go, leaving traces of his blood on her hand._

 _He looked up and spotted the three big shapes closing in._

 _"Son of a bitch!", one of them yelled. "That was a good shot!"_

 _He looked at his daughter, panic in her eyes. "Little pup...", he said with his last breath, "...run..." Then his head fell back, he stopped moving._

 _"No, papa, no..."_ _She cried bitter tears of despair, shaking his lifeless body at the shoulder. And then she got pulled away._

 _Hjornskar held her up in front of him, she seemed even smaller in his big hands. "I don't see what's so valuable about this.", he said in his deep voice._

 _Siegalf stopped in front of him and looked up at her as she struggled fruitlessly against the giant's grip. He shrugged. "I don't care. Look at this!" He held up a large coin purse and grinned._

 _Frokwulf was standing a good deal apart from them. He threw his bow over his shoulder and looked at their prize. "So you are going to be the first." He watched her continued struggle. She must have realized she wouldn't be able to get out of there yet she persistently tried. "I like a challenge."_

 _Siegalf looked at him with skepticism. "You are a sick man, you know that, right?"_

 _Without responding, Frokwulf turned and left for the farm._

 _Hjornskar, grabbing her by the ankles threw her over his shoulder and left as well._

 _Her tear filled eyes locked onto the dead body that was her father a moment ago until she could see it no more._

She gave off a short scream as she awoke. Breathing heavily, she looked around. She was home, lying in her bed. She quickly got to her feet and looked around. All the torches were lit, nobody was there, just the quiet she was expecting from the place. She spotted her father's dagger lying on the table in front of her. She took a step forward, picked it up and looked at the artifact, heavy with memories of her past. She hadn't looked at it in years, kept it locked away in that chest.

One of the ropes that she had attached clam shells to began to rattle, she looked up to the door. This meant someone had triggered a trap in the corridor. She picked up the dagger and rushed to the door, placing herself next to it so she could surprise anyone who might step through.

A deep rumbling on the other side of it indicated another trap had been set off. She heard the switch and the door mechanism, she reaffirmed the grip on the dagger, getting ready to strike.

As the door opened and she saw the first sign of someone stepping through she turned, ready to find a neck to put the dagger to. Terror drove down her spine like a lightning bolt as she realized who it was, stepping through the door.

She stumbled backwards, fell on her back and instantly began pushing herself away.

"SLAVE!", his voice echoed through the cave, all the wall torches lit up brightly, doubling the height of their flames. Nephiah's breathing got loud as panic took hold in her, the world around her slowing down. She hit a wall behind her and froze, looking up at him slowly stepping towards her. There was a black patch over his left eye, otherwise he hadn't changed one bit.

He reached down to pick up the dagger she had lost when she fell.

He stepped up to her and crouched down, presenting it to her. "Take the dagger.", he said in his a calm, threatening tone. "No?", he said after a moment. Then he tossed it into her lap. He turned his head far to the right, exposing his throat. "Left to right, slave. You've done it before."

Nephiah was unable to move, deep terror taking her breath away, she just stared at him.

He looked back at her. "Didn't think so."

"Who in Oblivion are you?!" Another shock drove through her limbs as she spotted Brelyna at the doorway to the kitchen. Before there was any time to react, he rushed over to her, grabbed her throat with his right hand, lifted her up and slammed her into the ground.

She instantly began coughing violently from the impact, his hand still around her neck.

He looked over to Nephiah with a sinister smile. "Where is that fire of yours now, little pup."

Her inability to move was reinforced by the certainty of what he was going to do next. Her eyes begged him not to do it, even though she knew he would. The world stood still for a moment.

Her father's voice echoed through her head. "Listen to that fire, Nephiah, you will always know what to do..."

Brelyna's voice echoed through her head. "I love you and I don't want you to die!"

Frokwulf's voice echoed through her head. "Whatever else happens, you are mine..."

Brelyna's voice echoed through her head. "Is this what you want..."

"You don't exist! You don't feel! You don't want!"

"Come back to me? Please?"

"It is the very essence of who you are..."

The world started moving again. He squeezed his hand tighter and tighter until he heard the snap.

Brelyna's arms that had been holding on to his hand fell lifelessly to her side.

"No!" She jumped up, almost hitting her head on the ceiling. She jumped off the bed she was standing on, her fists ready to punch him. Confused she looked around, there was no sign of him. Nor of Brelyna, she was alone. She was breathing heavily, looking around the room as she tried to make sense of it. It was her home but it had changed to a degree that made her unsure. She took a step into the room and looked around.

Nobody there.

The gold she had piled up around the chest had been rearranged into neat stacks, sorting the coins by value. The book pile had been replaced by shelves that now held them, judging by their shapes and colors there seemed to be a certain order to them. She turned around and noticed the military map on the table, various additional locations had been marked on it, a hand full of books scattered around its edges, Frokwulf's notebook was amongst them.

It was then that she looked down on herself, noticing she was wearing a black robe. Adding to her confusion she picked up a lock of her hair that was lying over her shoulder. It was a good deal longer than she remembered. It seemed to be well groomed though.

She lost her balance for a second and stumbled sideways until getting a hold of the table to stabilize her position. Holding on to it, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, puffing her cheeks.

She saw the image of Brelyna's neck snapping in front of her, her eyes opened instantly. She smeared a tear away with her sleeve. She held her hands up in front of her. At least those still looked like she remembered.

She heard noises coming from the kitchen. Since her sense of balance seemed to have gotten worse as time went on, she kept a hand on the wall to keep herself standing as she slowly put one foot in front of the other. As the corridor opened the view to the kitchen, she saw her, piling bowls and plates on top of each other. "Bre..." She coughed, her voice had remained without use for a while.

Brelyna turned around and gasped. The ceramic bowl she was holding fell, it shattered on the ground. She let herself fall back into the kitchen table and held tightly onto it.

Nephiah noticed that her hair had grown in length by a similar amount to her own. Her head was spinning, she fell to her knees.

"Nephiah!" Brelyna yelled. She rushed to her, grabbed her hand and put her arm around her neck to help her stand back up. She led her back through the tunnel, into the living area and to the bed and sat her down. She took a step back and looked at her with big eyes.

Nephiah rubbed her nose bridge with her thumb and index finger, trying to get control over herself. She looked back up at her. She was really there.

Brelyna took another step back. A moment of silence passed, she quickly smeared away the tear she caught rolling down her cheek. "Sooo...", she eventually began, "You've been out for six months."

Nephiah squeezed her eyes shut and put a hand to her temple. A headache settled in as the situation became clear.

"You've been lying there, didn't move. Half a year." The weight of the time spent waiting was noticeable in Brelyna's voice.

Nephiah tried to stand up but quickly fell back to a sitting position. Brelyna rushed forward and grabbed her arm and shoulder to make sure she wouldn't fall. Then she stepped back again. "So I've had some time on my hands.", she said after another moment had passed. "Wait there." She rushed to the storage room.

Nephiah took deep breaths as her drowsiness began to subside. She heard some metallic rattling from the back, a moment later Brelyna reappeared, carrying the heavy torso of a set of steel plate armor. She let off a few exertion noises as she put it down on the chair in front of Nephiah so she could get a good look at it.

"For you.", she said waiting for a reaction.

It was solid plated steel, well crafted, artful engravings on the shoulder covers. Nephiah looked at her, still processing the situation.

"I hope you don't mind...", Brelyna continued, "...but I took some of your gold. Oh!" Her face lit up as she remembered something. "I also got you these!" She rushed back out of the room.

Nephiah let a hand run over the breast plate to feel the smooth surface, interrupted only by fine engraved lines. She knocked on it, it was solid, could easily block a sword or an axe.

Brelyna returned again, this time with a sword made of ebony in each hand. She held them up pointing down, one could see she usually doesn't handle swords. She leaned them on the table.

"Ebony is really tough and really hard to come by. I happened across a Khajiit caravan who was willing to trade."

Nephiah leaned forward, picked one up and put it on her lap. The metal was black and dark purple, decorative engravings on the hilt and blade.

"Oh!" Brelyna disappeared again.

Nephiah stood up and held the sword up in front of her. She rotated it on her wrist a few times. The slightly higher pitch of the noise it made cutting through the air informed her of its superior sharpness and aerodynamics. Its quality was legions away from the iron swords she used. She took the second sword into her left hand and twirled both of them around with ease. She was a little surprised how easy the movement was for she usually only held a sword in her right hand. She figured it was the difference in quality.

"These I got for me." Brelyna re-emerged yet again, this time with a robe over her forearm and a box in hand.

She put the box down on the table and held the robe up. It was masterfully stitched, its measurements seemed like it would fit her perfectly. "This is the robe of a destruction master, like Faralda."

Nephiah put the swords down on the bed and scanned the robe. "I'm far from being a master but its enchantments should make it a lot easier to keep a spell up." She put it over the chair and opened the box. In it were various pieces of jewelry.

"I took those from your chest and had them enchanted at the college. We can't go there anymore so I had to hire someone to do it." There were two compartments in the chest. "Right side is yours, left side is mine."

On each side was a circlet, a necklace, a pair of ear rings and a ring. Everything was of different design, except the rings, they were identical. The items on the left were giving off a faint red aura, the ones on the right a blue one.

Nephiah looked into the box for a while, taking note of all the items.

"I wasn't sure which ones you'd like, I hope they are all right."

Nephiah took the ear rings from her side and looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes... I didn't think so either. But better safe than sorry!"

She tossed the ear rings over her shoulder, they landed by the treasure chest.

Brelyna closed the box and put it down on the chair beside the armor. "Look." She pointed at the map.

Nephiah quickly looked down but then right back into Brelyna's eyes. She was very composed, task oriented, like she was going through a rehearsed play. She began to imagine the lengths she went to while keeping her alive. She remembered the last words Brelyna had said to her and how everything now proved her to have told the truth.

"I've done some research. Remember Siegalf at the camp? He said he would join with a group called the Vigilants in their strong hold? It's the Vigilants of Stendarr and they have a hall right there." She put her finger down on the map, just below a red circle in the northern region.

Nephiah didn't look. She kept looking her into the eyes as she ran through a list of things Brelyna must have done for her, a list that grew longer and longer with every word she said. A strange feeling rose in her chest, it got stronger by the second, compelling her to act. She took a step towards Brelyna.

"Now I know what you're going to say." Brelyna noticed her stepping closer in the corner of her eye, she blinked but didn't look, she focused on the map. "Storm in, kill them all. But."

Nephiah took another step, now standing directly at her side.

"But maybe we can avoid getting a bounty on... our heads in yet another... another hold..." Brelyna got distracted by her standing so close, she couldn't focus anymore and looked up into Nephiah's eyes. There she was. All close and beautiful. That stern look on her face.

Nephiah took Brelyna hands and turned her towards herself.

Brelyna began to breathe heavily as the gesture tore down an emotional barrier she had built for herself a while back. A barrier so that the way each day would crush her hope of Nephiah awakening didn't hurt that much. But now she was there, her strong hands holding her, her dark, warm eyes looking directly into hers.

Nephiah pulled her closer and lowered her head until their foreheads gently touched. She put her hands around her hips.

Brelyna began to sob softly. "I have waited so long..." She moved her hands up and touched Nephiah's face. "The days hurt so much..." She finally broke down and let the tears that had been locked up for so long flow down her face.

Each of her words intensified the emotion in Nephiah tenfold, it was very warm and almost overwhelming. She put her index finger below her chin and moved it up so they would look at each other. "Have you called out to me?", she whispered. Brelyna's eyes opened in surprise as she nodded slowly. "I heard you. I had a nightmare and I heard you."

Brelyna began to sob loudly, but it was slowly getting clear that they were tears of joy.

Nephiah had found a name for the force that she felt pulsating inside of her. She marveled how Brelyna in all her youthfulness was wise enough to have figured this out long ago. For in this very moment she loved her. She loved her so much that this instant it had consumed everything around her, her past, her plans for the future, the room she was in, the earth she stood upon, the very air she was breathing. Nothing existed but that creature in front of her, so beautiful in every way she could imagine. She pulled her close and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

Brelyna's sobs persisted, be it in a somewhat muffled form. Warmth shot through her chest outward to her arms, her legs, her head. There it was, that magic that she had missed, back in full strength like nothing ever happened.

Her sobs turned into moans of pleasure as the kiss intensified, their mouths opened and their tongues greeted each other yet again. She felt levitated, energized, the incredible weight lifted from her shoulders, it all happened instantly.

Nephiah grabbed her thighs and lifted her up, wrapping Brelyna's legs around her hips.

Brelyna's arms moved around her neck, holding on to her.

"Now.", Nephiah said. "Where were we."

Brelyna giggled at first but then gave off a few loud laughs as she was carried to the bed and put down onto her back.

Nephiah moved over her, placing her hands on either side of her shoulders, her knees on either side of her hips. "Have you ever done this before?", she asked.

"Well, yes." Brelyna forced a stern look on her face. "This is the part where you usually lose consciousness one way or the other."

One side of Nephiah's mouth moved up ever so slightly.

"Made you smile, didn't I." Brelyna giggled.

Nephiah slowly shook her head. "Smirk."

She grabbed her robe by the collar. "Lift.", she said in her very focused, task driven way.

Brelyna arched up on her feet and lifted her arms above her head. With one grand swoop, Nephiah had pulled the robe over her head and tossed it away, making it land somewhere beyond the foot end of the bed.

Brelyna rested her body back on the furs. She looked Nephiah deep into the eyes as her breathing got deeper and she felt various areas of her body emit immense amounts of heat, the least of which were her cheeks and forehead. She felt a brief cool breeze as Nephiah sent her own robe flying.

She let herself fall to her side, resting her arm on Brelyna's chest and her hand on her cheek.

Brelyna took a deep breath as she felt the sensation of skin against skin from her shoulders all the way down to her feet. Nephiah's leg moved over hers, entangling them, and spreading Brelyna's knees apart.

Their eyes locked as Nephiah ran her fingers down her cheek, her neck, her chest. She gasped as they reached the sensitive area. That hand, capable of running a sword through a stone wall, it was so gentle in its touch, so precise in its movement, so careful in its assertion of pressure. She giggled as the fingers traveled across her stomach, yet her breathing intensified in anticipation.

In reflex she took in a lot of air as Nephiah's hand reached between her legs, thumb and pinkie touching the inner sides of her thighs, the middle finger slightly breaching the surface.

Nephiah's head moved down to kiss her as her hand began massaging the surface, slow at first but going faster and faster.

Brelyna closed her eyes, her hips twisting up and down as she felt fingers slip in, her breath on her lips, her heartbeat so strong.

She moved her hand down Nephiah's body. It was intercepted and grabbed by the wrist short of reaching its destination. She opened her eyes as she noticed the resistance but Nephiah quickly moved her hand from the wrist to intertwine their fingers, moving the hand up and away. Then she intensified the movement with her other hand.

Brelyna lost the capacity to think straight right then as she began to moan, both her hands reaching around Nephiah's neck to pull her close, their tongues entangling. Her breathing got faster and faster, she detached her lips, pulling Nephiah even closer, cheek touching cheek as finally the hand between her legs made her explode in feelings of pleasure, endorphins and adrenalin making synapses release fireworks all over.

Dawn was on the horizon over the serene little pond. A deer was grazing on the small island in its center, a flock of birds resided in the top of the tree that grew upon in. A woman's scream echoed from below making the birds rise up from their branches and fly away. The deer got startled and fled.

Her breathing was deep as it slowed down. Her moans were interrupted by occasional giggles as she kissed Nephiah's cheek, her hips were still twitching.

Nephiah's head moved up, their eyes locked. "I love you...", Brelyna whispered.

Nephiah's head moved down for another kiss. As she came back up, Brelyna took her face in both her hands. "Do you love me too?", she asked still whispering.

Nephiah's eyes widened at the realization that she'd have to say it. She nodded slowly.

Brelyna put her hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her so she would lie on her back. She could detect fear on Nephiah's face. She who would charge a warhammer wielding giant without batting an eye was afraid now. "I know...", Brelyna whispered moving her head down to her ear. "But it's me now." She moved her head back up and looked her in the eyes. She gently put her hand on Nephiah's chest. "Trust me?"

Nephiah didn't react, just silently looked at her, still afraid.

Brelyna began to slowly move her hand down. "Trust me...", she whispered kissing her cheeks, her neck, her shoulders.

Nephiah was overtaken by a flight reflex, prepared to jump up at a moment's notice. Her eyes followed Brelyna's face closely, registering every movement, trying to anticipate changes of speed and direction.

Brelyna stopped as she was about to move on from her shoulders and looked back up into her eyes. She took hold of her lover's hand which formed a firm fist and moved it up to place a kiss on its back, still looking up to her.

Suddenly Nephiah remembered the way her brand mark hurt whenever something touched it. Except for when that something was Brelyna. So she fought the instinct to flee. She tensed up, tightened her fists and held her ground.

"Trust me..." Brelyna whispered again.

She would try. Just this one time she would try. She nodded in a head movement so subtle, it was barely visible.

Brelyna began to move on down, placing gentle kisses on her lover's breasts. She didn't mind the scars, they were all a part of her. She kissed the cuts and burn marks with as much tenderness as any other area she came across.

Nephiah continued to observe her closely, her breathing was deep, in part from fear in part... something else.

Brelyna's hand reached her legs but couldn't squeeze through as they were tightly closed. As her head caught up, she looked back into Nephiah's eyes and gently tapped her fingers on her lower stomach. "May I come in?", she giggled.

Hesitantly Nephiah opened up a bit, her eyes not looking away from Brelyna's for even a second.

Brelyna's hand moved between and began to caress the outer edges, her breathing began to get louder, but without the voice behind it. She placed kisses on the border of the stomach and the sacred area that lay below. She turned to move between Nephiah's legs, her movement graceful, almost weightless. She paused and looked up at her lover yet again.

Still tensed up, Nephiah just looked at her, still focusing on not running away. It was a lot easier for her to do this for Brelyna than have her do the same in return. Then suddenly, for the first time in a while, she blinked.

Feelings rose, that she didn't connect with the activity. She had provided this service many times in captivity, pleasure was the last thing she'd associate with it. But there she was, so close, those big eyes looking up at her, her flushed cheeks, sweat on her forehead. So very kind, so gentle, so worth protecting, so worth to let herself be protected in return. She nodded again.

Brelyna began to kiss the top her lover's most vulnerable area, eventually letting her tongue breach the surface with ever increasing frequency.

Nephiah's head fell back onto the furs, her eyes closed, tears rolled down her cheeks. She arched up, breathing in loudly, her fists opened up.

"Let me hear you...", Brelyna whispered as fingers began to move inside to accompany her soft lips.

Nephiah's breathing got faster, she squeezed her eyes shut as fingers began to move in and out of her more rapidly. Finally, she broke down. Her wrists turned, she grabbed the furs and pulled hard as her body was taken over by her love's touch, shockwaves of pleasure running up her torso, her hips instinctively moving up and down.

"You exist...", Brelyna whispered. "Let me hear you..."

Nephiah's breathing was audible but her voice was not triggered.

"Let me hear you...", Brelyna whispered again, moving in for another kiss.

Nephiah's eyes opened wide as she let herself and all that was be consumed by Brelyna's touch, be it just for this moment.

"Let me hear you..."

Sunlight broke through over the hill tops, illuminating the serene little pond. The water twinkled, birds settled back down on the branches of the tree in its middle. A deer reached the water to have a drink. A woman's scream echoed from below. The flock of birds rose up from their branches and flew away. The deer got startled and fled.

Nephiah sobbed, tears ran down the sides of her face as she removed strands of hair from Brelyna's sweaty forehead.

She crawled up over her and rested her body on Nephiah's side, her arm on her chest, her head on her shoulder. "That. Was. Loud.", she giggled.

Laughter broke through Nephiah's sobs as she felt liberated in a way she hadn't thought possible. She stared at the ceiling, letting the aftermath of the eruption surge through her body. She took a deep breath and exhaled through pursed lips. "I exist."


	17. Inseparable Pairs

**Chapter 17: Inseparable Pairs**

Nephiah gave off a short scream as she awoke, pushing herself into a sitting position. She was breathing heavily as she realized where she was. She made fists, lowered her head and squeezed her eyes shut.

Brelyna moved up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. Startled by the unexpected presence, she looked at her. "Bad dream?"

She nodded.

"You have those often."

She nodded again and got up from the bed. "Every night." She put her fists down on the table and breathed deeply, trying to calm down. She was shivering.

Brelyna gave her a moment. "Sooo...", she eventually said, "I suppose you want to go kill them all now."

Nephiah looked over her shoulder, said nothing.

"I thought so." She stretched her arms out and yawned. "Can we have breakfast first?"

Nephiah gave off a short laugh before removing her fists from the table's surface and shaking off the effects of her nightmare.

Brelyna stepped up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She pointed at the steel plate on the chair. She placed a kiss on her cheek and left for the kitchen.

It took Nephiah a while to get into the unfamiliar set of armor. It was composed of many pieces. A chainmail first, then various steel plates that had to be strapped on in the correct order so they would form protective layers and not restrict the wearer's movements too much.

When she was finally done, she stood up and felt its weight. Moving in this would take some getting used to. She took a few steps and noticed the sound of steel brushing against steel. Moving silently was pretty much out of the question. She hopped up and down a few times to make the various pieces settle into place. It fit extremely well, it must have been custom made for her.

She picked up the swords and felt the weight of everything that would be on her in combat. She began to masterfully move both swords through the air, turned on her axis 360 degrees and upon arriving in the starting position moved the right hand sword down in a diagonal strike through the air in front of her. It all looked very graceful, like she had done this for years. Again she wondered about that.

Brelyna re-entered, carrying two plates on which pieces of snowberry costrata were placed. As her eyes fell upon Nephiah, she stopped. She had only imagined her wearing the armor. And there she stood, both her swords in hand, looking at her. She looked a little taller, a little stronger, almost noble.

Brelyna suddenly noticed the stark contrast of walking into this room with Nephiah unconscious on the bed and walking in with her standing tall, ready to go. She put on a big smile, the rising happiness at the picture made a giggle unavoidable. "My knight in shining armor...", she sighed before proceeding to the table.

She put the plates down and turned to her love.

Nephiah was motionlessly looking at her, like she was waiting to be inspected.

Brelyna tightened a few straps on the inner sides of her upper arms and then moved her hands behind her neck to pull the hair out from under the back plate. Nephiah must have forgotten about the additional length, she tied it together into a pony tail.

Nephiah just looked at her as she worked, baffled, astounded, speechless at having someone take care of her. She had been living self sufficiently for a long time, hunting, acquiring resources, tending to her own wounds. It wasn't always pretty but it was all she knew. This was alien to her, yet it felt incredibly good.

Brelyna opened the jewelry box that still rested on the chair. She pulled a black linen strip out from under the items and wrapped it around Nephiah's forehead. Then she carefully put the necklace in place, she couldn't help but notice the change in Nephiah's breathing as she did so. Finally, she placed the circlet on top of the black head band. She took a step back and looked at her creation. She put a hand over her mouth as the image took her breath away. What a noble specimen, eons away from the savage she first met in that dark Falmer cave.

She looked down at herself and back up at Nephiah. "I guess I better put something on myself."

Nephiah instantly stepped forward to close the gap between them and put her armored hands around Brelyna's naked hips.

As she was pulled close, she gasped at the sensation of cold steel against her skin. "You object, I take it?", she giggled and placed her hands on Nephiah's shoulder plates.

Nephiah moved her head forward until their noses touched. The armor covered the lower half of her neck and restricted her movement from then on, she couldn't quite reach the pair of lips she was aiming for.

Brelyna giggled again. "We just got you into that armor..." She squealed and laughed loudly as she was lifted up by the thighs.

"Hm. It will be good practice."

She nodded reaffirmingly and moved her head down, their eyes closed as their lips met.

"Oh!" She moved her head back up and tapped Nephiah on the shoulder, prompting her to put her back down on the ground. "I forgot something!" She reached into the jewelry box and took out the rings from both Nephiah's side and her own. With the exception of the enchantments on them they were identical. She put both of them in place on the hands they belonged to. She placed her palm on the back of Nephiah's hand, rings side by side. She sighed.

Nephiah looked at her, unsure of the significance of the gesture.

"I had those made at the temple of Mara in Riften. Look, they were forged as a pair! They belong together, you see?" She pointed at the identical gems crafted into both of them. "They usually only give them out in a ceremony. But after telling the priest our story, I convinced him to let me have them. Now you have one and I have one." She smiled at her, uncertain of her reaction.

Nephiah looked at their hands for a moment. "Forged as a pair...", she said faintly. She looked back up, Brelyna nodded energetically. She pulled her close again and nodded slowly.

A deep rumble shook the cave, dust and earth loosened and rained down from the ceiling. And a second time. They looked around in worry and surprise. The early warning system rattled, letting Nephiah know a trap in the corridor had been triggered.

"That priest...", she said, "...tell him where we are?"

Brelyna's eyes widened. "No?" She gasped and put a hand over her mouth. "I may have given him a general direction?"

Nephiah let go and quickly handed her the mage's robe.

"He wanted to perform the ritual here! I had to tell him something so he'd know how far it is! Damnit!"

Nephiah flipped the door switch. As it slowly opened, it revealed movement on the far end, it was too dark to see who it was. She could make out a hand reaching down, triggering a trap on purpose which then shot its wooden spikes into empty space in front of it. She rushed outside and kicked the lever there, breaking it clean off. An arrow was fired from the darkness, it shattered on her arm plating. She rushed back in and closed the door back up.

She looked at Brelyna who had already slipped into the robe and was in the process of applying her enchanted equipment. "We have to leave." "Damnit!" She rushed to the bookshelf and grabbed the two backpacks that were resting underneath it, fully packed. She slipped into one of them and handed the other to Nephiah who put hers on the ground beside her.

"Step away from the door, please.", a muffled voice sounded from the corridor.

Brelyna gasped. "Master Neloth!"

The look on Nephiah's face darkened. "There are no masters."

The door began to break, the cracks slowly widened and let through bright blue light. As it burst open, it sent its rocky debris flying through the room. Nephiah instinctively turned and stepped in front of Brelyna, shielding her from the impact of several heavy stones. They hit her back plate instead, leaving dents and scratch marks behind. Her face showed the discomfort of the shockwaves making their way through her bones.

Neloth slowly stepped through the dust cloud that had replaced the door. "You are hard to find, young Maryon."

Nephiah turned back around and faced him.

Brelyna remained silent. The cave only had the one entrance, she didn't know what to do.

"You know, your father blames ME for your disappearance. He insists I'm the one to bring you back. Now you know full well that I have important research to conduct at home." He looked at Nephiah. "And quite frankly, this is beneath me."

Two Dunmer fighters in Bonemold armor stepped in behind him. "He even sent an assault detachment to help find you. Who would have thought his losing his only child to a dirty commoner would cause such a stir."

Nephiah's eyes turned into slits, her grip on her swords tightened. His words had no affect on her, his mere presence did.

He spotted the matching rings on their hands. "Those aren't Bonds of Matrimony, are they?." He sounded amused. "You should know that young Maryon comes with certain baggage." He waved at Nephiah like he was saying hello.

She moved her left arm back to throw the sword squarely at his skull. As it reached its peak, ready to hurl the sword forward, she noticed Brelyna's hand touching her, blocking the way. She could easily finish the movement. But Brelyna's soft touch was enough to give her pause. She looked to her side, Brelyna slightly shook her head. She lowered the arm.

Neloth gave off a short condescending laugh. "Come peacefully and you won't be harmed.", he said as if required to, hoping they wouldn't comply.

The fighters behind him primed their bows.

Nephiah looked at her love. "Want to leave?"

She nodded.

Nephiah rushed to the fire chalice in the center of the room. Both arrows were fired but were deflected on her chest plate.

"You may want to aim for the head.", Neloth said annoyed.

As She reached it, Nephiah grabbed the chalice and knocked it over. A large amount of burning liquid spilled across the floor, building a wall of fire between them.

"Cute.", Neloth said as his hands began to emit a blue glow.

Nephiah rushed back to Brelyna, grabbing her hand while passing her, dragging her towards the kitchen.

Neloth's spell discharged and created a cloak of ice that swirled around him in a sphere. He moved towards the fire.

A lightning bolt shot over their heads as they reached the kitchen. Neloth had blindly fired it into their general direction.

Nephiah let go of Brelyna's hand and pointed at the other exit. "To the back!"

Brelyna left for the storage area running.

Nephiah grabbed the table and tossed it in front of the tunnel. She tore the shelves off the wall, the chair, anything to create a barrier.

"Nowhere to run, my dear."

She grabbed the butcher's knife from the floor and threw it at him.

He evaded, it hit the fighter behind him. It was implanted into his bonemold breast plate, doing no damage to the man. He pulled it out and let it drop to the floor.

Nephiah grabbed the kettle off the fireplace, turned around her own axis and hurled it towards the intruders.

Neloth evaded yet again, the kettle passed him by and hit the same soldier behind him. The solid iron kettle hit him in the head and knocked him off his feet. Upon arriving on the floor he stopped moving.

Nephiah turned around and ran out to where Brelyna would already be waiting.

An ice storm left Neloth's hands and made its way to the kitchen, knocking the blockade away like leaves in the wind.

Brelyna was waiting nervously for Nephiah to catch up with her, listening to the commotion coming from the kitchen.

Finally, she arrived.

"Now what?!", she yelled realizing they had hit a dead end.

The ice storm behind Nephiah closed in and dissipated short of leaving the tunnel. The door to the secret room was still open, Brelyna had never found a reason to close it. Nephiah grabbed her upper arm, dragged her to the entrance and shoved her in. Then she hit the button, closing the door between them

"No wait!", Brelyna yelled as the stone door separated her from her love, delivering her to Neloth in her place. "No please no!" She hammered her fists against the door that had become indistinguishable from the rocky walls that surrounded it.

Nephiah unsheathed her swords and slowly paced up and down the room as Neloth entered.

He looked around with a puzzled look on his face. "Secret room?", he asked smirking.

Nephiah stopped moving and faced him, rotating the swords on her wrists a couple of times.

"So you're her bodyguard then."

The look on her face darkened more and more, she raised an arm in front of her, pointing her sword at him.

"Very good." Without pause, he turned his palms towards her, firing lightning strikes in her direction. Prepared for it, she instantly began to run to her right, evading the impact. She ran alongside the wall of the circular cave, behind the line of shelves. He kept firing, trying to hit her, shelves shattered upon getting struck by magic projectiles, their contents scattered around the room, parts of the clothing lit on fire. The semi circle she moved in drew her closer and closer to him.

As he noticed his target was moving towards him, he stopped the rapid fire and charged a more powerful strike. As it hit the shelf she was passing, it propelled it towards her. She raised her forearm to block it, it impacted on the plated glove and was redirected over her head. It hurt but she didn't slow down, she needed the momentum.

The cave walls were dug unevenly. Occasionally spots were sticking out near the floor. One of those spots she used as a stepping stone, jumping into the air towards him, raising her right arm to strike.

Surprised by the maneuver he fired two lightning strikes at her in short succession but his aim was off.

When she descended upon him, his left jaw was struck by the combined force of her body weight and the speed at which it was traveling, her right hook and the fire inside of her that fueled it, all wrapped up in a steel plate glove.

He crashed into the floor and immediately stopped moving.

She raised both her hands, the swords pointing down. She gave off a scream of rage as she brought them down upon her motionless foe. They missed his head to the left and right by a hair. She was breathing heavily as she tried not to kill him yet again.

An arrow shattering on her back plate brought her back to the here and now. She turned, three more Telvanni soldiers had entered. The one in the middle was readying another arrow as the ones to his left and right began to charge, their swords raised.

Nephiah brought her weapons up, blocking both blows simultaneously. They hit again, she deflected. She turned around on her own axis 360 degrees and upon arriving in the starting position she brought her right hand sword down across the chest of the soldier to her right. The sharp ebony blade cut through the bonemold like butter. The sword continued its trajectory to the soldier to her left who stopped its movement with his sword at hip height.

Without hesitation Nephiah brought her left hand sword forward, impaling his chest until it exited the soldiers back. Then she quickly pulled it back, both of them dropped to the floor.

She looked at the archer, bloodlust in her eyes.

He was visibly nervous. He released another arrow.

Nephiah instantly got to her knees, making the projectile miss. As she arrived at the floor, she stuck both her weapons into the earth and picked up one of the soldier's swords instead.

As the archer tried to prime another arrow, she got back up and hurled the sword towards him. It came to a halt in his forehead, he dropped down.

Lightning struck her from below, its force threw her across the room until she crashed into a wall and fell to the ground. Blue sparks were coursing through her armor for a few seconds before they dissipated. She was lying on her stomach. She tried to push herself up but failed to raise her torso more than a few centimeters before crashing back down. Her arms had lost all their strength as they were still shaking from the shock that just ran through them.

Neloth pushed himself off the ground with a moan. He quickly shook his head to remove the blurriness from his vision, then looked around to see where his target had fallen. He spotted her on the ground, surrounded by burning bits of clothing. He stepped up to her and sighed. "Look at what you have reduced me to. A blasted bounty hunter." He moved his hands towards her and let off a continuous stream of electricity.

She clenched her teeth as the intense pain shot through her torso to her arms and legs, her throat and eventually her head. He stopped the spell after a few seconds and looked at her.

"I do appreciate the armor though. Perfect conduit for lightning magic." He released another series of shocks.

She squeezed her eyes shut, the pain made tears run out of them.

He stopped again, puzzled that she remained silent through the ordeal. "Hm. Usually this is the part where you're supposed to scream.", he said in his usual smug tone of voice. "Pain and screaming are an inseparable pair, my dear, did nobody ever tell you how this works?"

Her eyes opened, she looked up at him. The fire in her chest flared up, fueled by his words. She didn't see Neloth any longer, she saw every man that had stood over her like this to cause her pain. Her eyes reflected her desire to kill him, he hesitated as he recognized it.

She stuck her arm out and grabbed a burning piece of cloth. As she turned herself to her back, she threw it across the room, it landed on a clay jug that was standing in the back alongside many more pots and vases.

He followed its flight path with his eyes and looked back at her.

She was now lying on her back, her arms spread out, looking up at him, her rage showing on her face.

"All right?", he said confused, "Let's finish this up."

He began to charge a more powerful spell. As the charge reached its peak, the burning piece of cloth sunk into the jug, igniting the gasses on the surface of the lantern oil that resided inside. The pressure instantly made the vessel burst, sending clay shards flying across the room, Neloth raised his forearm to protect his face.

The other containers burst as well, sending a large amount of burning fluid across the floor and drops of it through the air. The ones that hit Nephiah's steel armor quickly disappeared, the ones that hit Neloth's mage robes lingered, eventually spreading their fire.

As he realized that his robe were indeed burning over an ever increasing part of its surface, he began to panic. First he tapped on the burning spots to quell the fire but since it was fueled by lamp oil it wasn't that easy. "Damn you!", he shouted as he began to release columns of ice directed at himself.

Nephiah used the distraction to get back to her feet and find the last oil jug that had remained intact.

He stopped his efforts to fight the fire, glittering snowflakes falling to the ground all around him, melting as they got close to the floor. He noticed her standing on the far wall, the jug in her raised hand. His robe had mostly stopped burning, except for a tiny flame still flickering on his shoulder.

A second of silence passed as they both realized what was going to happen next. "You missed a spot.", she said before hurling the jug across the room.

He raised his arm to deflect but the clay shattered on impact, making oil rain down on him. The little flame on his shoulder was enough to light him up like a torch. He instantly began to scream and ran for the exit. His burning shape reflected in Nephiah's rage filled eyes, her gaze locked on him for as long as he was visible.

Eventually he was out of sight, she looked around. The room was on fire, the wooden supports that held the ceiling up burned and cracked, it wouldn't be long before the cave would collapse.

She grabbed her swords, sheathed them behind her back and quickly moved to hit the button to the secret room, the door began to open.

"Azura!" Brelyna instantly lowered her hands in which she had prepared fire balls to throw at any hostile coming through the door. She rushed forward and threw her arms around Nephiah's neck, relieved it was she who opened the door. Then she scanned the room with big eyes, a burning realm of chaos that used to be a simple storage area mere minutes ago. "What..." She looked at the bodies on the floor. "Where is Neloth?!"

Nephiah shrugged.

"Did you kill him?"

Nephiah shrugged again.

"How..." Before she could finish another thought her hand was grabbed and she was pulled out of the room.

The fire in the living area had spread as well, there was no saving it. As they crossed for the exit, Nephiah picked the other backpack up from the floor. Wooden beams began to crack and fall from the ceiling, there wasn't much time. They began to cough in the atmosphere filled with dark grey smoke. Nephiah navigated the tunnel by memory, unable to see more than a meter ahead, never letting go of Brelyna's hand, the fire rumbling behind them. Stepping over rocks and wooden spikes of her traps, they eventually they reached the ladder that lead to the surface.

The hatch was flung open, a column of smoke began to rise from it into the blue sky.

Brelyna emerged first, arriving on all fours, coughing heavily.

Nephiah followed and quickly shut the hatch behind her before letting herself fall to her back, working on getting the smoke out of her lungs.

"Ready!", a voice shouted from afar.

Nephiah opened her eyes and moved her head up to see where it was coming from.

Brelyna got to her feet and turned around.

Neloth was standing in front of ten of his soldiers, a fair bit away from the shore. He was dripping wet from crossing the pond, his robes had black burn marks all over.

The soldiers were drawing their arrows.

"Aim!" He shouted, the ten primed bows aimed slightly up at the command.

Nephiah got to her feet and stepped close to Brelyna who was breathing heavily in panic, helplessly looking at her impending death. "Stay behind me."

A deep rumble began to shake the ground. It was violent enough to make the soldiers lose aim and lower their bows instead of firing. They looked around, trying to determine what was causing it. The earth broke open in a circle around them, throwing earth and dust into the air. cracks formed alongside the circle's diameter, intersecting in the middle, the ground dropped a few centimeters. They lost secure footing, trying to keep their balance.

Realizing they were standing over one of the caves, Neloth began to shout. "Move move move!" But before any of them could run any meaningful distance, the entire circle collapsed into the ground, leaving a large hole, thick clouds of black and brown color rising from it.

Brelyna looked at Nephiah in disbelief. "Our home!"

Nephiah had her usual stern look, she didn't seem to be affected by the destruction of her homestead. She was still catching her breath but looked normal otherwise as she observed the tall and wide column of dust rise up.

Eventually she turned to look at Brelyna. "You said you had a plan to get to Siegalf?"

Brelyna gave off a short laugh. She looked back at the rumbling dust cloud that used to be their refuge. "All right then."

She stuck two fingers into her mouth and whistled loudly. A horse echoed from the woods and emerged shortly after, galloping to the pond's shore. "May I introduce you?" Brelyna moved through the water to greet the horse.

Nephiah followed after a moment of confusion.

"Hey..." Brelyna lay her hands on the horses face, gently moving them up and down. As Nephiah arrived at her side, she turned around with an excited smile. "He used to be a Stormcloak, now he is my friend!"

Nephiah looked at her with skepticism. "He saved your life back then, you know. Pulled you all the way back here. I set him free afterwards, removed the saddle and all the things they strapped on him. But he always stayed close by. Came in handy too, when I needed to get to places. I guess he is part of the family now."

Nephiah looked at the horse, then back at her, still skeptical.

"I call him Sparks!"

Nephiah looked at the horse again, scanning its shape for a moment. "I'll walk."

Brelyna put a hand to the horses back, it fell to its knees, making it easier for her to get on. They seemed to have come to an understanding long ago. She extended a hand to her warrior. "Come on, scaredy pants."

Nephiah sighed and hurled herself onto the horse behind her mage. The horse stood back up and let itself be guided by gentle pushes of Brelyna's hand. It turned and began to walk away. More rumbling noises were heard behind them as more of their former home caved in. Brelyna looked back. "That's the third home I had to give up.", she said, melancholy in her voice.

Nephiah put her head on her shoulder. "Me too."


	18. The Unliving

**Chapter 18: The Unliving**

The horse was slowly trotting along, crossing the Great Plains of Whiterun. Brelyna was steering, Nephiah was sitting behind her, holding on tightly. She didn't look comfortable, focusing on keeping her balance and not falling off. Brelyna giggled. "You're so cute!"

"Shh!", Nephiah replied. The horse took a short jump over a few rocks, she instantly tightened her embrace.

"Ou ou ou! Tight Squeeze!" Brelyna yelled, unwillingly applying pressure to the horses back with a hand, making it turn around on the spot.

Upon receiving Brelyna's notification, Nephiah instantly loosened her grip but the sudden turn made her lose balance. She fell off, a dull metallic crash sounded as she landed on her back.

"Shhhhh, shhh." Brelyna stopped the horse's movement and looked down at her warrior who lay there, looking up at her in a way that said 'I told you so.' "So you want to walk then.", she giggled again.

Nephiah got back to her feet, they continued on their way side by side.

"All right, so, the Vigilants of Stendarr.", Brelyna began explaining, "They think that worshipping Daedra is a bad thing. They believe this to a degree where they get violent towards any Daedra worshippers. People like, you know, us."

"I don't worship anybody."

"Well? All Right? People like me then."

Nephiah looked up at her.

"Azura is a Daedra. Most Dunmer pray to her, she has guided our people for a very long time. And the Vigilants think that only worshipping the Aedra is the right way. I find that funny because you can't even tell if they are real! Azura talks to people. Personally. Aedra only exist 0in text books. Oh! There it is." She pointed at a cave in the distance. "The barkeep in Rorikstead told me about the place, the locals call it Broken Fang Cave. Rumor has it, there's a couple of vampires living in there, like to steal people in the middle of the night."

"Vampires." Nephiah's face darkened.

"Yes, ever seen one?"

Nephiah nodded slowly.

They stopped, Brelyna got off the horse. "So the Vigilants are leading a campaign of war against them. I figured if we leave a couple of bodies at their hall after you're done doing, you know, what you do, nobody would look into it too long and maybe we can still show our face around the Dawnstar hold after."

Nephiah looked at her for a moment. She had obviously put a lot of thought into this. But it was an inconvenience at best. Nephiah didn't care about bounties or guards, she was prepared to take on anybody who would come to put her in chains. She almost wanted them to try. But Brelyna was trying to protect something. Their life after.

Nephiah had never planned that far ahead, she only had her immediate goal in mind. But if Brelyna needed it to be this way, then she would do it. Wouldn't mind killing a few vampires in any case. She looked at the entrance.

"Wish I had a bow. Thin the herd from a distance."

"The herd? There's a couple of them in there, maybe three. And they are really vulnerable to fire, I think we can manage." Brelyna held her right hand in front of her, palm up, and let a fire ball fly into the sky above them.

Nephiah followed it with her eyes until she couldn't see it any more. Then she looked at her mage, then the cave entrance. She began to walk. As they were about to enter, they removed their backpacks and put them to the ground.

A dull impact noise sounded behind them, they turned around. A seagull had fallen from the sky, its white feathers smoldered by fire.

Brelyna gasped. "Oh no!" She placed a hand over her mouth. "What were you even doing here, so far off the coast?!"

Nephiah looked up, there were no other birds visible, the fire ball must have hit it really high up. She looked back at her mage. "Nice shot." She gave her a quick pat on the back and entered the cave.

"I'm sorry!", Brelyna whispered towards the dead bird. Then she followed her warrior through the entrance, her shoulders hanging low.

After a short steep tunnel the cave opened up. The chanting they heard immediately after entering the cave got louder. A ramp along its wall led to the larger space below, another exit on the far end. The walls were lined with wooden coffins, human bones littered the floor. In its center a group of vampires stood in a circle, a man cowering in the middle.

One of the vampires raised his hand and the large purple crystal he held in it.

Nephiah stopped, hiding at the entrance. She counted ten opponents in the circle. She looked at Brelyna who was staring at the scene with big eyes. "Just a couple, huh.", she whispered.

Brelyna didn't answer, just stared silently.

Nephiah looked back to the group. "Wish I had a bow."

The chanting of the circle intensified as the crystal began to glow. They extended their right hands towards the man in the middle. Streams of red mist began to leave his skin, one towards each of the hands. He began to scream and cough, his skin wrinkled as he was drained of fluids.

The vampires closed their eyes and twisted their necks back, hissing loudly, exposing their fangs.

As the victim dropped to the floor, his body lit up in a purple aura which began to rise to be absorbed by the crystal that was held above it. As it was done, the crystal was glowing, the light within it seemingly shifting and moving. The vampires opened their eyes and looked down to the corpse in front of them.

Nephiah gestured Brelyna to step closer. "Fire.", she whispered. After not getting a reaction, she turned to look at her. In a split second she saw her being held from behind, looking back at her with fearful eyes, a clawed hand over her mouth.

A split second later she identified the shape to her left.

A split second later everything was dark.

Screams echoed through the darkness. And cries for help. And whimpers. It was an atmosphere Nephiah was so familiar with that for a moment she thought she was 13 years old again. She slowly opened her eyes. She was in the dirt lying on her side, iron bars right in front of her face. As she was trying to move she noticed her hands were tied behind her back with iron cuffs. Her head was aching, there was a wound from whatever hit her to knock her unconscious.

As the blurriness of her vision subsided, she turned her head to look around. She was lying in an iron cage just high enough to kneel, the steel plates of her armor were missing, so were the gloves and boots, only the chainmail was left. She couldn't tell if this was the same cave they had entered or a different one. There were several cages besides her own, six in total. The ones across from her contained a Nord woman, a man and a boy, five or six years old. That's where most of the noise was coming from. The one to her left was empty, the one to her right held Brelyna. She was sitting, her back leaning against the bars, she was bound in a similar manner.

She looked at her with tired, sad eyes, her cheeks dirty from dust that had become wet from tears and dried again. A faint smile appeared on her face. "I thought you had gone again...", she faintly said.

Nephiah pressed her back against the bars and pushed herself up to a sitting position. She looked around again to get the full picture. Her heart started to pound, this all seemed so very familiar. She squeezed her eyes shut and twisted and turned her wrists to try to break free from her restraints. But the iron chain between the cuffs was too thick to break. Her breathing became faster as panic settled in.

"Nephiah!" Brelyna shouted as she realized what was happening to her love. "Look at me!" She opened her eyes. "I'm here! Please stay with me!"

Her breathing remained fast but her eyes remained locked with Brelyna's.

"Stay with me...", she whispered.

Nephiah's breathing began to slow down.

"What is all that noise in the middle of the day?!" A vampire walked in, she looked like she was an Imperial before she was turned. "I am trying to get some rest over there, you know."

She walked over to the cages that held the Nord family and looked at the father. "You aren't the top of the food chain anymore, my sweets, that's all there is to it." She looked at the mother. "Now I prefer my dinner fresh. But if you won't shut up." She looked at the son. "I can kill you all right now." The boy's whimpers got louder as his fear was intensified. Still looking at him the vampire stretched her arm out towards the father.

A stream of red mist began to leave his body towards her hand, where it was absorbed. The mother and child began to scream as his face fell in and resembled that of a Draugr more and more. His skin turned grey, his eyes black, he eventually fell to his side, dead. The vampire twisted her neck as she seemed to enjoy the newly acquired life force running through her body. "Mmmmm."

She looked back at the mother. "Now do you want to silence your child or should I."

The mother instantly swallowed down her pain and turned to her son. "Ragni? Listen, my boy, we have to be very quiet now.", she said with a quivering voice.

The boy was crying bitter tears, having just witnessed his father getting murdered in this gruesome way.

"Ragni, look at me!", her voice was high pitched in fear as she tried to get him to calm down.

The vampire put her hand on the boy's cage as a reminder.

"Shhh, Ragni, mommy is here, look at mommy!" Eventually he looked up at her, still sobbing.

The mother pressed her face against the bars of the cage to make sure he could see her. "We have to be very quiet now, can you do that for me?", she pleaded with him.

He sniffed and nodded, his sobs quieted down as he kept looking at his mother who smiled back at him, trying to provide some comfort.

"Good.", the vampire said.

She turned to her other captives. "Oh you're awake." She walked to Nephiah's cage and crouched down. "You know usually I have to catch my food, they aren't stupid enough to come to me."

Nephiah's breathing intensified again as the image of a vampire looking at her through iron bars sent shocks of panic through her spine.

"I enjoy a little Elf blood here and there, it's so rich."

Brelyna helplessly watched her love get overtaken by paralyzing fear, her present being replaced by memories of the past.

Nephiah was still trying to twist the cuffs, without success. "Stay with me..." The voice echoed in her head over and over, less and less recognizable as the moments passed and it was drowned out by the sound of her erratic breathing, her fast heartbeat and a different voice.

"Can we eat that one too? I love Elven blood." The vampire fledgling looked down at Nephiah who's cage was last in line of a dozen small cages filled with slaves. He licked his fangs in anticipation.

The hooded necromancer looked at the elder vampire that stood at his side. "Would you mind getting your people under control? This is a transit area."

The Elder gave the fledgling a nudge in the ribs. "The Elf goes somewhere else. Now all of these..." The mage pointed at the other cages "...are for you." He began to walk down the line of cages, the elder vampire followed, looking at his wares. "They are all young and healthy, I hear the vintage is very sweet." The vampire smiled. "Are we agreed on the payment?"

"Soulgems, yes. We can transform the lot of them into black gems for you."

The fledgling had remained at Nephiah's cage. As his master had reached a certain distance walking away with the necromancer, he crouched down.

Nephiah fearfully looked at the grimace, smiling at her from beyond the bars. His hand quickly reached in, grabbed her neck and pulled her close until her left cheek was pressed against the bars. Her hands were cuffed behind her back, she was unable to resist in any way. His fingernails were filed to sharp claws. His left hand moved through the bars as his right kept pressing her head against the cage. He extended his index finger and placed it below her right eye, puncturing the skin. A deep cut formed as he moved the finger down her cheek to her mouth, blood began to run down her face. It showed how much it hurt, how afraid she was. She remained silent however.

"Good girl.", he said impressed before he began licking the blood off his finger. Visibly enjoying the taste of it, he turned her head so the wounded side was facing him. As he stuck his tongue out to lick off more blood, an arrowhead came out his mouth alongside it. He dropped to the floor.

As the elder vampire turned to investigate the noise, he immediately moved into an aggressive stance, his hands began to glow in dark red. The bandit at the cave entrance lowered his bow.

"He damaged my property.", he said calmly.

The elder was about to lunge at him when the necromancer began to emit a dark purple aura.

"Do we have a problem?" He said.

The vampire looked at him as he began to levitate and hover a few centimeters off the ground.

He lowered his hands. "Very well." The necromancer let himself descend to the ground.

Frokwulf stepped up to Nephiah's cage and crouched down. He grabbed her chin and turned her head to see the damage. He didn't look happy. He took a wash rag from his belt pouch and began to carefully wipe away the blood beneath the cut. "You didn't cry. That's good."

She looked at him, her face showed no emotion at all. The wound hurt again when he dressed it in a clean piece of white cloth. She still didn't let him see it. As he was done, he removed his hands from her face and rested his forearms on his knees.

He looked at her for a moment, deeply unhappy about the result. "That is going to leave a scar."

"HEY!" The loud voice was accompanied by the noise of a dagger repeatedly hitting the iron cage.

It took but a subtle head movement to replace the image in front of her by the one that was really there.

"You can panic all you want. So long as you do it silently." The vampire stood up and looked back at the mother and child on the other side. The boy was still crying but it was barely audible. She nodded and left.

Brelyna shoved herself to the side of the cage that was closest to Nephiah's and leaned her left shoulder against it. A quick glance ahead showed the mother and son leaning against each other, separated by the bars of their cages.

She turned her head to Nephiah to check on her facial expression. The eyes were still wide open, the panic still there, but a subtle change had already begun to turn it into something else. She knew what this change meant, she just couldn't picture any course of action that would yield any results. Her eyes widened as she observed the slow transformation, the fury in Nephiah's heart rising, replacing fear with burning anger. She never cared for that look on her face. But she couldn't deny that it gave her a strange kind of comfort in this particular situation.

Nephiah had been staring at the locked cage door for a while. As her paralysis was replaced by the need for action, she slowly turned her head to Brelyna.

"What?!", she whispered.

Nephiah turned her attention back to the door, scanning it, trying to locate the lock. She found it to be on the top side of the cage, no way to reach it with her hands tied like that. She made a head movement to point out its location and looked back at her mage.

"Yes. There is no way I am hitting that on the first shot." She made a gesture to bring her hands into focus that were also tied behind her back. "And even if I could, it would be very loud."

Nephiah turned her head back to the door, her eyes lingered on Brelyna for a moment longer before her vision followed her head movement. She looked back up to the lock. After a moment she pushed herself over so her back was turned to Brelyna and stuck her cuffed hands through the bars to her side.

"All right?", Brelyna whispered not sure what to do.

"Melt the chain."

She looked at her still unsure of what she meant. "What, with fire?"

Nephiah nodded.

"Are you serious? Do you know how hot I would have to make that? As hot as a forge! Do you know how badly that will hurt?" She looked very worried. "What if she hears you?!"

Nephiah looked over her right shoulder, the scar on her cheek an exclamation point to the fire in her eyes. "Shhhhhhhh."

Brelyna hesitated a moment as she read the resolve on her face. Eventually she sighed. "All right."

She turned so they would sit back to back.

Nephiah pulled the cuffs apart as far as the chain between them would allow, Brelyna grabbed it with both hands. "Azura guide us...", she faintly said, looking up at the ceiling. She ignited her spell.

The heat between Nephiah's wrists quickly turned from uncomfortable to painful. She pressed her lips together and kept pulling the cuffs apart with all her strength, waiting for the chain to break. It began to glow in orange as the flames that engulfed it increased its temperature at a steady rate. While destruction mages are protected from the spells they cast, they are not protected from the world they affect with them. So Brelyna started to feel it too, the heat given off by the glowing iron in her hands. She gave off a few faint moans, trying to contain the volume as much as she could. Nephiah wasn't protected at all. She clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut as the pain intensified. She pulled harder and harder, wanting it to be over.

Finally, a link in the chain softened enough for it to break open, freeing Nephiah's hands in a swift move.

Brelyna instantly stopped casting the spell, releasing the breath from her lungs that she had held for a few moments in an effort not to scream.

Nephiah grabbed an iron bar to her left, one to her right and pulled as hard as she could, her face in agony, her voice silent. Eventually the cuffs on her wrists stopped glowing. She let go and dropped to the floor, breathing heavily.

As the pain in Brelyna's hands lessened, she turned to her warrior. "Azura..." She noticed little puffs of smoke rising from her cuffs. "Are you all right?"

Nephiah looked up at her, her lips pressed together.

She pushed herself back into a sitting position, grabbed the chainmail she was wearing by the neck and pulled it over her head, leaving her in the nude.

"What are you doing?!", Brelyna whispered confused.

Having gained access to her upper left arm, she began to scratch open a particularly thick scar halfway between shoulder and elbow. Blood began to spill, she stuck a finger in the wound, audibly sucking in air as she went along.

"Nephiah!"

Eventually she began to pull out a thin metal object. The expression of worry on Brelyna's face gave way to surprise as she identified the object to be a lock pick. "Have you been planning for this?!", she said in disbelief.

Nephiah looked at her, her usual stern, goal oriented look returning to her face. "You never know." With that she kneeled up and began to work on the lock. Brelyna gave off a short laugh, a mixture of shock and amazement. The lock sprang open.

The rusty door gave off a loud squeak as it was pushed open.

Nephiah instantly moved to pick the lock that secured Brelyna's cage. "Watch out!" Brelyna yelled, looking at the exit.

The vampire that had entered was taken off guard by the image of a naked woman charging her, so that by the time her hands were raised to cast a spell, her stomach had already been introduced to a shoulder digging deeply into it. Nephiah used the momentum to lift her up and let herself fall backwards, letting the vampire crash onto the rocky floor head first. The crack that sounded on impact confirmed the breaking of the neck. Nephiah turned around, grabbed the vampire by the collar and raised the other arm to strike. Recognizing the unnatural anglethe vampire's head had towards its shoulders, she let the lifeless body drop to the floor. She searched her pockets to find a set of keys, big ones for the cages, little ones for the cuffs.

Back at the lock, it didn't take long for Brelyna's cage to open. She crawled out on her knees and was then helped to her feet by Nephiah's hand under her arm. She reached around her to unlock the cuffs, Brelyna began to display an embarrassed smile. "Would you mind putting the chainmail back on? You're making me feel unseasonably warm."

Nephiah looked down on herself and back up at her mage. She hadn't even noticed. After removing the cuffs from her own wrists, she slipped back into the chainmail.

"We should find you some linen wrap to wear under the armor. You know, in case this happens again..."

They turned for the exit.

"Please..." The Nord woman began to speak. "Please don't leave us here!" The Dunmer turned to look at them, her plea reminding them of their presence.

Nephiah slowly stepped close to the cage that held the boy and crouched down. She stared at him as his shape brought back memories of another boy. The mother nervously looked at her child and back at Nephiah. "Please?"

Brelyna stepped up behind her love. "Nephiah...", she said softly.

She looked up at her, tears forming in her eyes. Then she jumped up and hastily opened the boy's cage. She grabbed him and sat him down on top of the cage and opened the cuffs. Then she took a step back and froze, staring at him. The boy didn't dare move, he stared back.

After a moment, Brelyna took the keys from Nephiah's hand and proceeded to free the mother. As soon as she was standing and her hands untied, she took her son and embraced him dearly, ready to carry him out.

Nephiah's eyes were still fixed on him.

Brelyna took her hand. "Come on." She turned to the mother. "Stay behind us." She then moved to the exit, dragging Nephiah along by the hand.

After passing through a short tunnel, another cave opened up, the arrangement of coffins on the walls let them know they were still in the cave they had entered. They stayed low as they spotted two more vampires entering the cave from the tunnel that led to the surface.

Nephiah gestured behind her, signaling the mother to stop moving. They all got close to the tunnel wall in an effort to not be spotted by the creatures that had already been conversing as they walked in. The younger one was carrying a bloodied linen sack.

"You said we should come get you if ever a Dunmer girl walks in on us, so here we are. What is this all about?"

"Do you remember that necromancer?", the Elder said to his younger companion. "I remember many necromancers. I remember they taste strange."

"No, the slaver. The one that had every bandit from here to Riften fall in line behind him some twenty years ago."

"I was only turned a few years back."

The Elder looked to his side condescendingly. "You younglings."

Eventually they arrived in the middle of the room, the fledgling put the bag on the floor beside a table and began to remove organs from it. Different types, different sizes, most of them were hearts. He piled them up on the table. "His people called him 'The Unliving' which I always found amusing considering that between the two of us I was the one without a heartbeat. He supplied us with the freshest of livestock." He pondered a moment. "Just thinking about it makes me thirsty." He licked his fangs, the fledgling looked at him and grinned. "In return he wanted their souls transferred into black soulgems once we drained them."

"What did he want them for?"

"I don't know. I didn't care, his supply was reliable, we remember it as the 'fat years'."

The fledgling turned back to sorting the contents of the sack on the table's surface. "Anyway the High King eventually organized an effort spanning the entirety of Skyrim, wiping out his organization. He escaped unscathed though and after all was said and done, he met up with me."

Nephiah was listening closely to his words. As she realized the necromancer was still alive, her eyes widened, her breathing intensified. She made fists, not realizing that she was still holding Brelyna's hand. She was tapped on the shoulder. As she turned her head back, she saw Brelyna franticly pointing at her hand. "Tight squeeze!", she whispered. Nephiah released her hand and turned her attention back to the room. She spotted her gear resting on a wooden crate behind the vampires.

"He wanted to let me know that the guards wouldn't be able to find anything to link us to their operation. He was hoping to do business again sometime but that never happened. And before he left he warned me that some of his product had gotten loose and might come after us. He specifically mentioned a Dunmer girl with a branding on her hand."

The fledgling stopped the work on his inventory and looked at him.

"Precisely.", the Elder continued "I never knew why he singled out that particular one. But after all this time, here she is."

"I would have killed her right away."

"See that is why you will probably die a fledgling. Because you are unable to spot an opportunity to learn."

A fire ball shot across the room and hit the fledglings arm. He instantly lit up, the flames engulfing him like he was made of dry paper. He screamed for a moment but he was consumed in seconds, leaving a pile of white ash on the floor.

The Elder quickly looked in the direction from which the projectile was fired, only to spot a second one quickly closing in on him. As it was about to hit, the vampire dissolved into what looked like a cloud of black dust at first but soon revealed itself to be a swarm of bats which made way for the fire ball to pass right through them. As it hit the wall behind them, they reassembled into the black cloud which revealed the Elder as it dissipated.

His eyes began to glow in a dark red color as he spotted the Dunmer emerging from the shadows, charging him. He growled and as her shoulder was about to impact on his stomach, he dispersed into the swarm of bats yet again, which moved a few meters to reassemble him at a different spot in the cave.

Nephiah stumbled a few steps as her movement wasn't stopped the way she anticipated. As she came to a halt she found herself in front of the crate that held her equipment. She looked over her shoulder, spotting the furious Elder a few meters behind her, growling at her. She grabbed her swords.

Brelyna stepped out of the shadows and flung her right arm back like she was about to throw a stone at him. Another fire ball materialized in front of her hand, she thrust it forward, shooting it towards her target.

Without looking the Elder transformed again, the swarm moving up and away, making the fire ball miss yet again.

Nephiah's eyes followed the swarm closely as it came back down. As soon as it was clear where it would land, she began to run towards it. As the Elder re-appeared from the cloud of smoke, she arrived to bring an ebony blade down on him, slashing his chest open diagonally.

He gave off a bone chilling scream and sank to his knees.

"The Unliving!", Nephiah yelled at him, realizing who he was. "Where is he?!"

The Elder looked up at her, his face began to form a sinister smile. She took a step back as she noticed his forehead and cheeks expanding and retracting, his robes ripping open as he grew in size, his hair seemingly retracting into his skull. Shock and confusion on her face, Brelyna fired at him once more.

Her shot hit the ground as he was propelled a meter into the air, leathery wings bursting out of his back. He growled as he came down on Nephiah, his large claws grabbing her by the neck and lifting her up. She lost her swords as she was raised above the floor and grabbed the arm she was held with to lessen the weight of her body that was choking her.

He instantly turned to hold her up like a shield between himself and Brelyna, who subsequently hesitated to fire again.

He moved her face close to his monstrous grimace. "There certainly is something about you...", he said in a deep, distorted voice.

Her eyes open, where there should be pain from the way she was held, there was only rage. Where there should be fear of the giant monster's face right in front of her, there was only determination.

"Fire...", she whispered.

"Yes, I can see it burning in you, bright as day.", the Elder said amused. "Maybe I should turn you, you might make a strong addition to our flock." His large, razor sharp fangs snapped at her, purposefully missing her by a hair.

Nephiah didn't flinch as she felt the monster's hot breath on her face. "FIRE!"

With that Brelyna let loose a continuous stream of flames from both her hands. It hit Nephiah first as she was used as a shield but soon after spilled over her to the creature.

Brelyna's face showed her concern and how much she did not like this maneuver. She shook her head as she fired, hoping that the Elder would let go before Nephias's natural fire resistance wouldn't protect her any more. And so he did.

He screamed loudly as Nephiah landed on the floor. He hovered across the room in erratic patterns, trying to stop the flames. Eventually he crashed into the ceiling and dropped to the ground in the middle of the room.

Nephiah got back to her feet and slowly stepped closer to the burning monster which had stopped moving or giving off any kind of noise as soon as it landed.

Brelyna stepped up as well, arriving opposite her. As the crackling of the fire was the only sound heard, they looked up until their eyes met. Brelyna gave off a short laugh out of relief. "I would appreciate it if you would stop telling me to shoot you."

The vampire corpse between them burst apart into a cloud of black smoke. Startled they both took a step back. But instead of forming a swarm of bats like before, the cloud separated into seven streams, each of them rushing through the air towards one of the closed coffins that stood on the walls all around them. The lids of the coffins burst open, sending wooden shards flying all across the room, the Dunmer tried to shield their faces as best they could.

As they looked back up, they found themselves surrounded by glowing red eyes, the vampire's hands all raised to release their life force draining magic onto them. They stepped backwards until their backs collided.

Brelyna looked around in panic. "Now what?!", she yelled as the fiends menacingly stepped closer, flashing their fangs at them.

"Ward!" Nephiah yelled back.

Brelyna brought her hands up, her ward manifested as a blue shield in front of her.

The vampires released their magic onto them, the ones in front of Brelyna were deflected, the ones behind her hit Nephiah. Red mist began to leave her towards the vampires that had locked on to her. She quickly fell to her knees as she felt her strength fading. She turned around, moved in front of her mage. The ward began to shield her there, the stream was interrupted. The vampires behind them began to charge their spell again.

Behind the blue flickering of her ward, Brelyna spotted the distorted faces of her foes, their claws reaching out towards her, their magic draining her power. Then her view of the horrors was blocked by Nephiah's face. She had forced herself to stand and was now in front of her, between her stretched out arms that were keeping the ward up. Before she even had time to process the confusing change of scenery, she felt her love's hands on her cheeks, soft lips greeting hers. Her eyes closed in reflex, her brows rose.

The Vampires stopped their magic, startled by the ward that instantly grew from a half to a full sphere that protected both of them from all directions. As the sphere closed it lit up twice as brightly as before.

It was very calm inside the sphere. Brelyna didn't even notice the impact of several spells from the outside, all she felt was warmth and her love's heartbeat. As Nephiah moved her head back, Brelyna opened her eyes and looked around. She gasped as she saw the blue light surrounding them, remembering her exit from the college, realizing that it wasn't a fluke, that she could in fact reproduce the spell.

She looked back at Nephiah with big eyes. "Are you using kisses as a combat strategy?!"

Nephiah looked deeply into her eyes and nodded slowly.

Brelyna began to grin and giggle at the absurdity of the thought, at the beauty of the thought.

A vampire jumped forward to grab them but was propelled backwards as he made contact with the sphere. He landed on his back a few meters away. The sphere's occupants didn't even register it. They kept looking into each other's eyes.

"Want to see something amazing?" Nephiah asked.

Brelyna giggled again. "Yes?"

Nephiah moved her hands around Brelyna's hips and pulled her close. Their kiss more intense this time, their lips passionately intertwining, it made the ward bubble flare up in such brightness, the vampires had to shield their eyes. Its deep hum got louder and louder, the vibrations began to shake the cave, unsettling dust and earth from the ceiling. One of the vampires shouted something but the spell's noise drowned it out.

He pointed at the exit, letting his undead companions know they better leave. Pieces of rock crumbled and dropped from the ceiling, they began to move away when suddenly the sphere collapsed onto itself until it disappeared, revealing the Dunmer, entangled in a passionate kiss.

It was dead silent all of a sudden. The Dunmer didn't seem to realize the change in circumstance, both their eyes were still closed, their tongues still dancing around each other. The faint moans of pleasure Brelyna made were the only source of sound.

As they realized that their victims now stood vulnerable, the vampires jumped towards them. But before they could reach their target, the sphere re-emerged, originating from Brelyna's chest. It expanded violently, a shockwave of blue energy. It pushed back everything in encountered as it traveled outwards, furniture, rocky debris, and the vampires.

Some of them splattered across the walls they hit, some of them broke their necks and spines as they collided with the edges of the coffins. Eventually the sphere disappeared into the walls.

Slowly their lips removed themselves from each other. After a moment, Brelyna opened her eyes and looked around. Dead vampires everywhere. She took a step back and flung her arms into the air. "YES!" She started jumping up and down in joy. "We did it! Take THAT, Faralda! Take THAT, Neloth! Take THAT, father!"

Nephiah's eyes followed her victory dance through the cave. A subtle smile formed on her face.

Brelyna suddenly stopped and looked at her. Immediately after she ran towards Nephiah and placed another quick kiss on her lips. "We should experiment!", she said with excitement in her voice. "If this is what happens with a ward, what happens if I cast flames?! Or lightning?!" She gasped as her mind browsed the possibilities. "Maybe I can finally summon something bigger than a rabbit! It'll be so much fun!"

Nephiah nodded, Brelyna squealed and kissed her a few times in quick succession. Then she took a deep breath and embraced her, resting her head on her shoulder.

"Well." she eventually said. "I think we have enough corpses for our plan."

The mother stepped out of the tunnel that lead to the cave with the cages, still carrying her son. She looked baffled at what she witnessed as she slowly moved past them. The boy's eyes were fixed on Nephiah, she stared back at him.

Brelyna observed the silent exchange, its significance was not lost on her. She stepped away and looked for her backpack, their equipment was scattered all over the floor. As the mother was about to leave for the surface the boy raised a hand to wave at his savior.

After a moment, Nephiah slowly raised her hand back. They disappeared to the outside.

Brelyna stepped back up to her. "I cleaned all the blood and rust off it, it's as good as new."

Nephiah removed her gaze from the exit and looked to her mage who held up her father's dagger, its surface was well polished.

"I believe it belongs to you."

She took it and let it rest on her palm as she processed the fact that it was restored to the way it was the day it was first given to her.

Brelyna pointed at the hilt. "Those Dunmeri symbols mean 'guardian', it's quite fitting, don't you think?"

Nephiah looked up, shocked at how she just solved this ancient mystery for her in a side remark.

Brelyna's eyes widened, unsure if she said something wrong. "What? It's what it says!"

Without further delay, she found herself embraced, lifted up and spun around 360 degrees. She giggled as she was put back down and looked into the eyes of her love. "We did good today."


	19. Lie to Me

**Chapter 19: Lie to Me**

The sun had already set, its orange glow still lingered on the horizon. Having retrieved and donned most of their items, the Dunmer stepped out of the cave, finally spotting the origin of the whispers they had heard a moment before reaching the exit.

The Nord mother was still there, crouching in front of her son, softly talking to him to calm him down. As she noticed the heavy steel plate boots behind her, she turned and stood up, keeping hold of her son's hand. "I'm sorry...", she said, "Do you know where we are?"

Nephiah let the two vampire corpses she was dragging drop.

Brelyna stepped closer to them. "Well? Where do you want to go?"

"Rorikstead?"

"Ok? That's about a half day's journey that way." She pointed to the north-west.

"Could you...", the mother hesitantly said after a moment, "Could you take us there? We never leave the farm, Skyrim is a dangerous place..."

"Well?" Brelyna looked back at her warrior who stood motionlessly behind her. "It's a bit out of our way, but I think we can manage?"

Nephiah neither confirmed nor denied the notion,

Brelyna knew that to be a 'yes'. She looked back to the pair and smiled.

The mother sighed in relief. "Thank you... I was sure you had a good soul."

A column of smoke shot forth from the cave. It made its way in between the Dunmer, knocking them both off their feet, shot up into the air and came back down behind the Nords.

There the smoke compressed, revealing the shape of the Elder vampire, his skin burned all over. As soon as his form was solid, he grabbed the son and mother by the neck, then bit her throat and drained her dry, it was over very quickly.

Nephiah looked up in terror as she saw her chance at redemption disintegrate in front of her eyes. She jumped back to her feet and charged him, unsheathing her sword on the way. She instantly stopped her charge as the elder held the boy up in front of him, exposing his neck in a way that made it easy for him to bite.

Brelyna had raised her hands to fire but didn't have a clear shot, the boy would burn just as badly as the vampire would. She looked at Nephiah, trying to figure out what to do. By the looks of it, her warrior wasn't sure either.

The Elder's skin began to regenerate from the fresh infusion of blood. "Children's blood.", he began to speak "I must admit, I got a bit addicted back in the day. Nothing quite as pure, quite as energizing."

Nephiah took a step closer but stopped again as he lifted the boy closer to his mouth in response.

He noticed the fear in her eyes with sadistic joy. He wanted to see more of it, he couldn't help himself. He bit down and violently moved his head back, ripping out part of the boy's neck.

"Nonono...! Brelyna charged a fire ball, ready to release.

Nephiah however left her offensive stance and lowered her sword as a tear fell out of her shocked eyes.

Brelyna nervously looked at her and back at the Elder, scared she'd have to fight him alone.

The Elder began to regenerate even faster, he let the boy drop to the ground. He growled loudly as he transformed back into the winged monster. His growl was answered by a scream, so full of pain and anger, it sent chills down Brelyna's spine.

The scream was still leaving her lungs as Nephiah began to charge the monster, implanting her sword in its chest as she arrived. The blade didn't seem to cause the monster more than discomfort as it grabbed her with both talons, spread its leathery wings and lifted up off the ground. Brelyna began to shoot balls of fire at it but they were easy to evade for a creature in flight.

It was moving fast, left to right, right to left, up and down.

Nephiah was pounding both her fists down at the giant claws that held her, giving off short screams with every hit.

The monster smiled at her with blood red teeth. Left to right, right to left, up and down, it evaded incoming fire with every move. It opened its jaws and moved its prey closer. But before biting down it noticed its movement had found resistance.

Nephiah had grabbed the fangs on its upper jaw as they had gotten close enough.

The creature bit down but the steel plate was too tough to penetrate. She screamed again in pain, the emotion increasing her power, as she began to pull its teeth apart.

It gave off a loud and deep roar as its fangs were ripped from its skull, its flight patterns becoming uncontrolled. It let go of Nephiah but she wasn't ready to be let go.

As she fell, she caught its foot and held on as hard as she could, the momentum of rapid course changes violently swinging her around. Trying to lose its passenger, the creature drove to the ground, flying so low that Nephiah crashed into the earth. But she still didn't lose her grip. As she was dragged across the rough tundra, digging up clouds of dirt as they went, she began to grab its lower leg, then its thigh, slowly working her way up to the torso. The creature took off to move high up into the sky. She grabbed the wings by their root, digging her knees into its back. Again she screamed as she began to pull.

They had moved to an altitude where Brelyna couldn't make them out against the dark blue night's sky. She nervously looked up to where she last saw them. She heard her love scream yet again, a scream that was joined by the creature's pained roar shortly after.

The creature's wings landed on the ground left and right of her in short succession, giving off dull impact noises. Shortly after a louder, heavier impact was heard not far in the distance.

She ran towards it.

The noises of metal hitting flesh accompanied by Nephiah's short agonized screams let her know what she would find even before she saw them. The monster was dead. Nephiah kneeled over its mutilated corpse, pounding down on its head until it cracked open. But even then she didn't stop. Her eyes were closed, her mind was burning, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

Brelyna came to a halt a bit away from her, she couldn't interfere.

Eventually Nephiah wasn't hitting a head any more but rather grinding pieces of bone into the earth. Her strikes slowed down, her power left her, she stopped. She stood up and quickly walked a few meters without direction, then back to where she landed. She gave off another scream, this time no anger, just pain. She ripped the dripping wet steel gloves off her hands and ran back to the cave, Brelyna instantly followed.

Once there, her eyes found the boy, she stepped over to him and fell to her knees. And there she froze, her face void of any expression other than the lines her tears had carved into the dirt on her cheeks.

Brelyna slowly stepped up behind her. "Nephiah?", she said softly, "We... we have a plan, remember?" She didn't know what to say. She knew that if nothing else, her desire for retribution was something to keep her going. She stepped in front of her and crouched down. "Nephiah? Look at me?"

Nephiah remained frozen, her mind in an endless loop between the image in front of her and that of another boy with an opened throat.

Rattling in the bushes close by sent Brelyna back to her feet. She moved her hands back and got ready do release another magical projectile.

The dark shape revealed itself to be a familiar face. "M'aiq?" Brelyna let the magic dissipate without firing. The cat slowly stepped closer with raised hands. "What in Oblivion are you doing here?!"

He pointed at a patch of tundra cotton that had caught fire from one of her spells.

"M'aiq was seeking the warmth of a fire..."

"...in this cold night?" Brelyna interrupted him, anger in her voice. "You say you know a lot, how come you don't know how to light a fire!"

She stepped between him and Nephiah who still hadn't moved. She couldn't believe the bad timing of his showing up.

"Maybe M'aiq also seeks the company found around other people's fires.", he said lowering his arms.

Brelyna sighed and put a hand to her temple. "I'm sorry. It's just... This isn't the best time for company."

He leaned to his side to get a closer look at the paralyzed warrior kneeling on the ground. Then he looked back at the mage.

"Would you mind? This isn't a good time.", Brelyna said with frustration.

"Yes...", he answered "But if you would allow M'aiq a word of wisdom..."

"No!", Brelyna interrupted him again. "You aren't wise, you're just spewing about random things! And you're either wrong or you're lying!"

He paused. "Is that so.", he replied calmly.

"Yes! You said I wouldn't find what I wanted but I did! And so did she!"

He looked at Nephiah who had slowly turned her head to look at him.

"Did you?"

Brelyna gave off a short laugh.

"So you are still busy digging graves.", he said, looking Nephiah in the eye. As soon as the words registered in her, she furiously jumped up, rushed him and grabbed him by the collar. The expression on his face showed he regretted having said that in that particular moment. "M'aiq is sorry." She dragged him over to the dead boy and fell to her knees again, pulling him down with her.

"Nephiah!", Brelyna yelled, fearing she would get violent again. She rushed over and put a hand on her shoulder, one on M'aiq's, ready to try to push them apart if need be.

"Tell me...", Nephiah suddenly said with a soft, quivering voice. "Tell me this is not how it will always be."

M'aiq looked deeply into her agony filled eyes.

"Tell me it will be ok... Do what you do... and lie...".

Brelyna slowly sat down. Strength left her at the sound of so much hopelessness coming from her love. "Nephiah..."

"TELL ME!" She shook him as the pain flared up in her more intensely.

"M'aiq can tell you this.", he began to speak. "There is only one force strong enough to quell that fire in you. But this... you already know."

She let go of him and fell from kneeling to sitting, her hands dropped onto her knees. "Yes..." She exhaled audibly and closed her eyes.

Brelyna put a hand on hers, gently stroking her with her thumb, she didn't react.

The cat looked at the mage that was trying to comfort her love and back at the warrior that was unable to feel comfort. "Maybe you don't know."

After a moment of pondering, he stood up and began to walk into the darkness of the night. "M'aiq shall leave you now. Who knows, maybe we meet again.", he said without looking back.

Brelyna watched him as he left. "You could have just lied!", she yelled after him as he disappeared. She looked back at Nephiah who was trying her best to take deep breaths. "Come on." She eventually said, trying to sound confident. "We have things to do."

She whistled loudly, it didn't take long for Sparks to come running. She placed a quick kiss on her hand and stood up to greet the horse. "I am sorry, Sparks, we are going to have a bit of a load." She sighed and walked to the cave entrance. She grabbed one of the vampire corpses that Nephiah left there and began to drag it to the horse. She made a few exertion noises as she went. "Those are heavier than they look!", she said towards Nephiah who's eyes were still closed.

Upon arriving at the horse, she let it drop and promptly moved back to the cave to get the other one. She whiped a tear away before grabbing it, sniffed as she pulled it backwards. Her powerlessness against her love's suffering had gotten to her, this was the only thing she could do. Drag dead vampires through the dirt.

The horse lowered its back to accommodate Brelyna. She leaned the corpse's back against its side and took hold of its front to try and push it up and across the horse. Half way there, she lost hold of it, it plummeted back down. "Damnit!"

She tried again, it slipped out of her hands again. She began to give off faint sobs, realizing that she couldn't even do that for her. "Come. ON!" She grabbed it again, exhaustion taking hold in her. She couldn't lift it. She fell to her knees, lowered her head and sniffed again.

Two more hands took hold of the vampire. She looked to her right to see Nephiah hurling the corpse across the horse in one quick move. She stood up and took a step back as the second vampire was stowed away in a similar fashion. Nephiah then looked at her out of the corner of her eye.

"Why do it.", she faintly said, a heavy sadness in her voice. "Why give me hope where there is none." She turned to her mage who in this moment didn't have an answer. "Hope is the cruelest form of torture... hurts more than this..." She ran a finger along the scar on her cheek.

Brelyna's knees were shaking, she wanted to sit down again. She wished to Azura to share some wisdom to give to her love. But she had none. Eventually she stepped close to her and took both her hands. She lowered her head until their foreheads leaned on each other. "This is not how it will always be...", she whispered. "It will be ok..."

Nephiah gave off a short whimper as she recognized the lie the cat failed to tell. As she recognized how Brelyna would say it when nobody else would. Even though it wasn't true. "Whoever comes...", she said barely audibly.

Brelyna whispered back "...whoever comes."


	20. Scorched Earth

**Chapter 20: Scorched Earth**

Heavy clouds were hanging low across the dark night's sky, promising a furious snowstorm to erupt soon. The Dunmer were treading slowly through the knee high snow, the horse at their side carried the dead vampires.

"This forest looked a whole lot different in daylight.", Brelyna began to speak. "It has to be around here somewhere." A faint orange glow appeared over a hill in the distance. "Look!" She pointed at it. Then she quickly stuck her hands back under her armpits. "Damnit, it's cold."

As the light drew closer, faint music could be heard. Brelyna began to wonder. "This man they called the Unliving... What is he all about?"

"Necromancer." was the short reply.

"All right? Got anything else?"

A moment passed "He was always there... his plan, his men."

"He was their leader? The man Frokwulf was writing the journal for?"

Nephiah nodded, her face showing the discomfort of bringing the images to memory.

"All right, so I asked around. Siegalf has been a hired sword for as long as people remembered him. There were some grim tales of him doing despicable things. Apparently anything was acceptable for the right amount of gold."

Nephiah didn't hear anything that was new to her.

"So I've been thinking. Maybe you don't kill him right away. Maybe we could ask him about his former employer first? See if he knows how to find him?"

Nephiah looked to her side and nodded. Talking to the man had never occurred to her, she was pleasantly surprised by the idea.

Snow began to fall, a few flakes at first, the promised storm followed soon after. The roof of the hall appeared over the horizon, Brelyna stopped the horse.

Nephiah pulled the corpses down and grabbed them by the collars, one in each hand. She looked at her mage, her face asking for instructions.

"Let's sneak up and have a look through the window first. See what we're up against."

The corpses were dropped, they carefully moved up the hill until they reached a window.

Nephiah's breathing had begun to intensify as soon as the entire hall was revealed and the sound of song and laughter from inside had gotten louder. She took a quick look through the iced up glass. The hall was packed with Vigilants, a few of them mages, many of them armed with steel swords and maces. She sunk to the ground, pressed her back against the wall and squeezed her eyes shut as her breathing got deeper, her heartbeat faster.

"Nephiah!", she noticed a whispered shout. She quickly opened her eyes and looked into the direction of its origin. Big, worried eyes looked at her.

"Remember what we are here to do!" Her face was gently taken hold of by two soft hands. "You are in control now!"

She shut her eyes and nodded quickly, trying to calm down. After a moment of conscious deep breathing, her heartbeat slowed down a little, she took another look inside.

"Do you see Siegalf anywhere?"

She did. He was sitting at a table in the middle, a Vigilant sitting to both his left and right. If they were to defend him, it would be a tough fight. She already pondered ways to quell their numbers before any actual fighting could begin. Him. And the two at his table. She could knock them out before anyone would have a chance to react. Then it would only be ten of them. The fight was playing in front of her eyes, movements planned, reactions anticipated.

"Nephiah!"

She was drawn back to reality.

"Remember. Don't kill him until we have our answers."

Nephiah looked at her, the expression on her face showing her need for action.

"Just... just let me do the talking."

Nephiah's face now informed her of the redundancy of that last remark.

Brelyna gave off a short laugh. "All right. Go get the decoy, I'll be inside. It's freezing out here."

Brelyna stepped up to the door as her warrior disappeared down the hill. She took a few deep breaths, she was nervous. She had seen Nephiah do what she does often enough to know that she was about to enter an unpredictable battlefield. This hall of song and chatter would soon be a room of chaos and violence in which luck would dictate who walks out and who doesn't. Never mind that they were outnumbered six to one. She ran through her spells once more, remembering the many weeks she practiced. "Don't screw this up, Brelyna.", she said to herself. She took another deep breath and pushed the door open.

The bard abruptly stopped his song and the sound of chatter and laughter vanished. A cloud of snow and ice followed her as she stepped inside. The fireplace flickered violently, candles were blown out. The dozen battle hardened faces stared at the door, some carefully preparing to draw their swords, others charging a spell behind their backs. For a moment, all she could focus on was the warmth of the fire that greeted her, replacing the icy air outside.

She looked across the room and smiled. As tension made way for relief, the inhabitants of the hall burst into laughter, sheathing their swords, sitting back down to their tables and corner benches.

One of the Vigilants stood up from his stool by the fireplace and took his flagon to a barrel of mead. "What brings you to the Hall of the Vigilants in the middle of the night, little Elf?", he asked as he refilled his drink and the bard continued his song.

"Me? Nothing." She took a step aside, revealing the snow storm outside.

"By Ysmir's beard, girl! Close the door! Do you not... do you not see the... the storm..." His train of thought was interrupted by what began as a faint knocking but revealed itself to be heavy footsteps drawing close.

Song and chatter fell silent once more. A shape in heavy armor and a hood walked through the door. Hands went towards sword grips yet again, as the vigilants realized, the warrior walking in was dragging two vampire corpses, one in each hand.

The wooden floor boards shook loudly as the dead undead hit the ground. Brelyna shut the door, quieting the sharp whistling of the wind as Nephiah scanned the room, finally locking eyes with Siegalf. She wanted to charge him right now. She made fists as she stared at him, the fire inside her flaring up, compelling her to act. Her stance shifted slightly, not openly hostile but in a way that would instill dread in anyone she looked upon.

Every Vigilant in the room was prepared to draw iron at a moment's notice.

She turned right, stepped over the corpse and closed in as people evaded her.

The man sitting across from Siegalf vacated his seat without being asked, she sat down. He looked nervously at his companions, sitting to his left and right. "Did you kill these abominations yourself, friend? G-good man!" He flinched as she reached up to remove the hood. "Another one?! You're not a man at all! What is it with Greyskins tonight?!" He laughed until he realized that his opposite neither smiled nor broke eye contact with him.

"Listen, Elf, you did Stendarr's work by killing those Deadra worshipers." He didn't believe in Stendarr or the Vigilant's cause. He had however learned that using certain words improved his standing with them, made work easier. They paid well, so he didn't care. "But if you think, there is a bounty for you, you will leave disappointed."

As the rest of the room fell back into lively evening chatter, his words were met by only silence.

Nephiah looked at him, remembered him, imagined the things she was about to do.

"What's your name, Elf?"

Her mage had stepped up behind her. "My name is Brelyna Maryon of House Telvanni. This is Nephiah."

"Damnit! Damnit!" Tears filled Siegalf's eyes, he looked to the heavens. "She will kill you today, you know that, don't you."

Brelyna stepped closer to the man who fruitlessly struggled against Nephiah's hold. The expression on her face darkened as she not only understood the fire he helped light in her warrior but she also began to feel it's heat. "Might as well tell us where he is."

A moment of clarity filled him and he looked back down into Nephiah's eyes. "He is untouchable, wench! You little worm will never..."

Nephiah's left fist closed and began to pull.

His scream was bone chilling,

Brelyna looked away.

Nephiah's hand moved away from him until a faint snap was heard. She let go of him, he dropped to the floor like wet cloth.

"You... you damned whore... you don't stand a chance against him now...", he whimpered.

Nephiah left the hall without looking back.

Brelyna looked around, pondering how the fire inside Nephiah had a way of manifesting itself in the real world every time it flared up. Another falling wooden beam quickly enticed her to follow outside.

She was sitting in the snow, looking up into a majestic, star filled sky. Brelyna came up behind her and sat down as well. She leaned sideward, resting her head on Nephiah's shoulder. As the roof of the hall finally came down, Siegalf's screams were heard for a short time, then nothing but crackling fire behind them. A shooting star rushed across the sky.

Brelyna gazed upon the calm and quiet eternity for a moment. It was beautiful in its own right, but the stark contrast to what she had just been part of took her a moment to process. That they were both sitting here, in one piece, filled her with immense relief, but it also made her just a little bit proud. Nobody trusted her to be a capable mage, she herself least of all. But that opinion was changing every time she followed her warrior into battle. She took a deep breath and looked to her love, realizing that they had just hit a dead end. "Now what."

Nephiah stared at the ground in front of her.

Brelyna sensed her sadness but the adrenalin rush put her in a strangely good mood. She gave off a short laugh. "Siegalf did and said pretty much anything for the right amount of gold. And he calls YOU a whore." She giggled and poked Nephiah in the side with her elbow. She got no reaction. She looked back to the blue glittering of the icy forest. "So hard to make you smile."

A moment of silence passed, their breath casting soft white clouds in the air. "You know, I bet we could have gotten it out of him if we had kept him alive a little longer."

Nephiah looked to her side.

"I'm serious! You are very intimidating." She smiled and nudged her again.

Nephiah looked back at the ground in front of her.

"You have to control yourself a little better. How about you just defer to me next time."

Nephiah took a deep breath. "Next time..."

"We will figure something out." She nodded reaffirmingly. After a moment Nephiah reached over and took her hand, their fingers intertwined.

She lost hold of her hand shortly after for the steel mace that was thrown at her back hit her with considerable force, making her topple over into the snow.

Shocked, Brelyna looked back to see where the object came from, only to see a woman already running towards her. It was another Vigilant by the looks of it.

She pushed herself to her feet as fast as she could but by the time she was in any position to cast a spell, the Vigilant had already reached her and put a powerful right hook across her chin. She was thrown off her feet and rolled down hill for a few meters before coming to a halt close to losing consciousness.

The Vigilant instantly grabbed Nephiah by the shoulder plating and turned her over so she would lie on her back.

She was still coughing from the violent impact on her back plate.

The Vigilant grabbed her armor and lifted her torso up. "What have you done?!" She crashed her down into the ground and lifted her back up.

"Who are you?!" She crashed her down into the ground and lifted her back up.

"What!" She punched her across the face with her right, still holding her up with her left.

"Have!" Another hit.

"You!" Another hit.

"DONE?!" She crashed her into the ground a third time.

Nephiah was dizzy, the Vigilant's rage was quite powerful. She stood up and found her mace in the snow a couple of steps away. She picked it up and walked back to Nephiah, breathing deeply. "We are fighting a war! Against a very dangerous enemy! And you may have just handed them victory!" She looked down upon the warrior who just killed her brothers and sisters, burnt down her home, destroyed any hope she had of completing her mission. She tightened the grip on her mace and raised it into the air. There was nothing left to do for her here, she brought the mace down.

As Nephiah's instincts kicked in, she stopped coughing, the expression of pain vanished from her face in an instant. She moved her hands across her face and took hold of the incoming weapon, stopping its impact but a hair away from her forehead.

They began to struggle, the Vigilant trying to pull the mace away, Nephiah holding it in place.

She forcefully rolled over, pulling the mace and Vigilant with her until she fell. They rolled over each other a few times, trying to gain the upper hand, until Nephiah ended up on top of her, pushing the arm holding the mace down into the snow.

The Vigilants free hand immediately shot up and grabbed her foe's neck.

Nephiah paid it no mind, she brought her steel plated right hand down on the Vigilant's right forearm which was still pushed to the ground, holding the mace. The Vigilant was wearing customary robes so the cracking noise and subsequent scream were unavoidable. The mace was let go as the arm broke. It wasn't hard for Nephiah to remove the hand from her neck after that. She grabbed the Vigilant's neck in return and stood up, pulling her along. Once standing she lifted her up in the air and slammed her back down into the ground, keeping her hand in place. There was little resistance after that. Nephiah still felt the shock of impact in her bones, the fist on her cheek, she began to squeeze.

"Stop!" Brelyna's voice echoed through her mind.

She stopped and looked up.

Brelyna stepped closer, wiping blood from her nose. "Ask her!", she yelled.

Nephiah looked back down. "I squeeze, you die.", she said calmly. " The Unliving. Where."

The Vigilant's face was distorted from pain and confusion. "W-what..."

"The Unliving.", Nephiah said again.

"We fight vampires too... why do this..."

"You misunderstand." Brelyna had crouched down beside them. She looked into the Vigilant's pain filled eyes. The high she had felt a moment ago, prevailing against a hall filled with them had vanished. What was left was a deep nausea, a sense of wrongness that she didn't know if she could stop. Or if she should.

"There is a man known as The Unliving. A necromancer. One of your brothers knew where he is, now we are asking you."

"W-wha..." The Vigilant's breathing was uneven from various types of pain. "That's what this is about?"

"Apparently." Brelyna answered. "Point us the right way, we'll let you live." Brelyna had no desire to kill her. Guilt over the entirety of this evening was settling in as this one gave all of them a face. She was all too willing to give up her alibi for this chance at redemption.

Nephiah looked up at her, the obvious question in her eyes.

"We'll manage..."

Nephiah noticed the sincerity on her face, in her voice. She looked back down and loosened the grip.

"Well, that went to pieces quickly..." Brelyna uttered to herself.

"W-w..." The Vigilant's confusion was ever growing.

"Never mind.", she sighed. "Just tell us. Please. We'll let you go."

The Vigilant took a moment to collect her thoughts. "I.. I only know of one man by that name... Wuunferth..." The Dunmer looked at each other, then back at the Vigilant.

"All right? Where might he be?"

The Vigilant began to laugh. "If your plan is to do to him what you did to us..."

Nephiah tightened her grip again, Brelyna instantly put her hand on it to stop her from going too far. "Just tell us..."

The laughter was broken up by choughs. "He is Ulfric's court wizard. Quite a powerful mage. Not that he needs to be given that he is protected by an entire army..."

"Azura..." Brelyna knew of Ulfric. He was leading the Stormcloak rebellion from his throne in Windhelm. If he was his court wizard, that's where he'd be. She had visited their alchemist a couple of times, she remembered the looks she had gotten just crossing the street. Elves weren't particularly welcome. And yes, the bulk of his army was stationed there. She got to her feet, a hand on her forehead.

She put a hand on Nephiah's shoulder. "Let's go."

It took Nephiah a moment to release the Vigilant, she still thought it better to quell the danger right here. "Come on..."

She let go and stood up. She looked down on her target as the Vigilant pressed the broken arm to her chest with the other hand. The sight was pitiful, the fire in Nephiah dimmed. She felt a deeply unpleasant sensation in her stomach, she couldn't quite identify it. As it grew stronger with every second she looked at the Vigilant, she quickly turned and followed her mage.

"Sparks must have run off, trying to find shelter." The horse was nowhere to be seen as they reached the foot of the hill. Brelyna whistled loudly. Nothing. "He'll show up eventually, he always does." She sighed. "Windhelm..." She turned to Nephiah. "Listen, this changes things. Remember that Stormcloak camp? There are hundreds of them in Windhelm, including Ulfrik himself."

Nephiah looked at her, not understanding the significance of the name. "You know? Ulfrik Stormcloak? Leader of the rebellion? Killed the High King?"

Nephiah raised an eyebrow. "What, have you lived in a cave the past twenty years?" She giggled. "Never mind."

They started to walk into the forest, heading east. "If Wuunferth is the court wizard there, he is virtually untouchable. The number of people protecting him... just take all the enemies we have faced thus far and multiply. By a lot." She stopped. "Also we have a bounty on our heads there because of the Nightgate Inn. I don't suppose we can call the whole thing off?"

Nephiah's facial expression darkened.

"That's what I figured."

An ice spike hit Brelyna from behind. Her ward was instinctively raised to block it, she didn't even have to think about it anymore. But the impact made her stumble forward a few steps.

As Nephiah turned around to look for the source, her breast plate was hit by a second projectile. It shattered and sent her flying backwards until she landed in the snow a few meters back.

Brelyna turned around, saw the column of ice quickly closing in from the top of the hill, threw her hands up and sent flames towards it to stop its approach. As the two beams met, one icy blue, one flaming orange, violent arcane discharges crackled through the air at the contact point. The ray of ice was slowed but didn't stop. Brelyna leaned into the incoming fire to not get pushed back, the hostile spell was very potent.

Nephiah pushed herself up and shook the snow from her face.

The Vigilant was slowly walking down the hill, her left hand stretched out, casting the ice spell. The broken arm she pressed against her chest, forming a fist that was also glowing in bright blue.

"My name is Carcette!", she began to yell. "Keeper of the Vigil! Defender of Stendarr's light!" She moved her casting hand backwards and thrust it forward, once more intensifying her spell.

It pushed Brelyna back, leaving deep trails from her feet in the snow.

Nephiah got to her feet and began to run towards her, grabbing the hilts of both swords that were sheathed on her back.

The Keeper opened the fist of her broken arm, the palm pointing outwards. Another ice spike was released and shattered on Nephiah's armor, sending her flying back yet again. The distance between the ray of ice and Brelyna shortened to a worrisome degree, she pressed her lips together, squeezed her eyes shut and held against it with all she had.

"Stendarr have mercy on you!" The Keeper shouted. "For the Vigil has none!" With that a pulse shot through her arm into the spell. It traveled across the ray of ice, doubling its diameter as it went.

Unimpressed by Brelyna's spell, the pulse traveled through the flames as well until it was revealed to be another ice spike that was fired through the ice ray from the same point of origin. It impaled her left hand, she screamed as she was thrown back and landed in the snow.

The rays of ice and flame dissipated instantly, the Keeper began to charge something else.

Nephiah pushed herself up again and looked in shock at her mage, lying on the ground, a large piece of ice lodged in her hand. She grabbed a sword from her back with both hands and hurled it towards her foe, it made high pitched swishing noises as it rapidly cut through the air.

The Keeper opened her fist again, sending a projectile to intercept. The ice hit the blade mid air, changing its trajectory up and back until it came down on the spot from which it was thrown.

Nephiah jumped to the side, the sword cut deep into the frozen soil. She landed on her stomach in the snow, a few meters away from Brelyna who was lying on her side, holding her aching hand.

Their eyes met, anger on Nephiah, pain on Brelyna, fear and uncertainty mixed in with both.

Brelyna's eyes widened, she stretched her right hand out towards the Keeper.

"Kiss me...", she whispered. Without hesitation, Nephiah began to crawl over to her as fast as the high snow would allow. The intensifying blue aura around the Keeper promised nothing good, she released her spell. A bright blue beam of ice made its way across the field at tremendous speed. Nephiah reached her mage just before it hit and pressed her lips against Brelyna's. Her eyes closed.

Time froze for a moment, blocking out all noise around them, all she heard was the heartbeat of her love. Her right hand began to glow, the incoming ice spell mere centimeters away from her, frozen in movement like everything else. As time began to run at its normal speed, a bright flash from her hand was the prelude to a ferocious fire storm to be cast forward. It effortlessly vaporized the incoming ice spell, including the snow on the ground, leaving a trail of scorched earth behind.

It reached the Keeper before she even had time to identify it, all she knew was it was odd and dangerous. There wasn't much of a scream as the fire consumed her as quickly as the snow she stood upon. A partly melted amulet of Stendarr was all that remained, it fell to the ground where the Keeper once stood. Eventually the spell joined the flames that still engulfed the burning hall on the hill. Their lips detached.

Their eyes opened, they turned their heads to see the long crater they had just produced.

Brelyna gave off a short laugh, again finding it all very absurd. Shortly after the ice spike that was still sticking in her hand made its presence known again. "Ou ou ou!"

Nephiah got up and helped her mage to her feet. She took hold of the spike's wide end and looked into her eyes. "I'll be quick."

Brelyna nodded and closed her eyes. She sighed in anticipation of more pain. "Breton mages are a nightmare..."

Heavy muffled footsteps began to be noticeable in the distance, they looked around.

"Sparks?" Brelyna asked.

Nephiah shook her head. "That's two horses."

She let go of the spike and grabbed her upper arm instead. She quickly pulled her to the tree line, removing her sword from the ground as they passed it. They crouched down in the bushes, the darkness of night concealed their position further. "Shhh."

Two riders appeared on the path to the hall, judging from their attire, they were Vigilants as well. "Stendarr's mercy!", one of them said as they began to make out the carnage. As they reached the start of the trail of crystallized earth that lead up the hill, they got off their horses.

They grabbed their steel maces and slowly followed its path. Half way up the hill one of them stopped and kneeled down. He picked up the scorched amulet and turned it around. He could make out a bit of the engraving on its back. "Gods... this was Carcette's." He held it up to his companion with a shocked look in his eyes.

The other Vigilant continued up the hill, tears formed in his eyes as the burning roof of the hall was revealed, the burning walls, fallen brothers lying in the snow outside. The burnt door had already fallen out of its hinges, he could see the corpses inside. Brothers, sisters. As he spotted red armor through the flames. He ran towards the hall and began to look for a way inside. His companion reached the hill top behind him. "Tolan! What are you doing?! They are all dead!"

"Look!" He pointed at one of the bodies on the floor inside. His companion walked up behind him and found the spot that was being pointed at. He recognized the shape of a vampire. And another one.

"Gods help us." The Vigilant was shaken, he couldn't move.

His companion put a hand on his shoulder. "Tolan... this was very recent, we should leave."

He still didn't move. "They wouldn't be bold enough to attack us here unless there was a lot of them. If they come back..." Tolan turned around. He looked his companion in the eye for a moment, then ran past him towards the horses.

His companion followed. "What are we going to do?!", he yelled after him. "Find reinforcements." Tolan said, jumping onto his horse.

"Stendarr's Beacon? There should be a handful of us there."

Tolan shook his head. "We need more." With that they charged off into the night.

As soon as they were certain they wouldn't be spotted, the Dunmer got to their feet.

"What do you suppose that was all about." Brelyna asked, staring into the distance where the Vigilants began to fade. As they were gone, she sighed. "Well at least the plan worked. OUCH!"

Nephiah tossed the ice spike away and produced a bandage from her pouch.

Brelyna's knees got soft. She began to fall but was instantly caught by Nephiah who continued to gently lead her to a secure kneeling position. "Learned any healing spells?", she asked as she began to apply the bandage.

Brelyna sucked in air through her teeth and gave off a short moan. "Yes and no..."

Nephiah carefully continued.

"Given your affinity to get into brawls, I read the book on Healing Hands but that would only work on others. If it would work. I tried it on a fox once. It OUCH! it didn't work as intended. Made a nice stew though. OU!"

Nephiah looked at both sides of the bandaged hand. "This will do for now. We should find shelter, then I'll stitch it up."

Brelyna's eyes opened wide. "Stitch?!"


	21. Somewhere In There

**Chapter 21: Somewhere In There**

"Ou ou ou!" They had found themselves a little cave to rest and wait for dawn. Sitting at a small campfire, Nephiah was tending to Brelyna's wounds. "How do you do it?! Ou!"

Nephiah was focusing on stitching up the back of her hand, having finished the palm first. "Do what?"

"OUCH!" Brelyna was trying hard not to pull her hand away. "Deal with the pain?!"

"Used to it."

"OUCH!"

"Done." Nephiah removed the needle from the thread and stuck it back into her pouch. Her face didn't show it, but every time Brelyna cried out, she felt it too.

"Well I'm not used to it, what am I supposed to do?!"

She made a knot at the end of the thread.

"OU!"

She moved close to Brelyna's pain distorted face and looked at her until she stopped looking at the wound and into her eyes. As the expression on her mage's face turned from agonized to confused, she moved in and kissed her, both their eyes closed, Brelyna's brows rose. After a moment Nephiah moved back and looked into her eyes. "Better?"

Brelyna giggled. "You have all of this figured out, don't you?"

Nephiah pulled a bandage from the pouch and gently wrapped it around the now stitched up hand. "This will leave a scar."

Brelyna gave off a faint moan as she lay down sideways. "Well, now we have something in common."

She noticed Nephiah lying down as well. "Nono! Over here!"

Nephiah confusedly looked at her.

She pointed at her back. "Like me, just, over here."

After a moment of contemplation, Nephiah moved to her love and lay down as instructed, wrapping her arm around her. "See? This is nice. Read that in a book once."

"You read a lot."

"Used to warm the lonely nights."

Nephiah took a deep breath. The fire crackled calmly, yet the warmth they gave each other was all the more comforting.

"We have a bounty on our heads in Windhelm, you know."

No answer.

"They are looking for two Dunmer women, a warrior and a mage. If we walk in like this, there will be trouble."

Still no answer.

"Are you still awake?"

"I don't care about the guards."

Brelyna turned her head to look at her. "Well you should. There is way too many of them." She turned back and rested her head on Nephiah's arm. "Lucky for you, I have planned ahead."

"I don't like this."

The guards outside the city had closed the massive gate shut behind them, they stood in front of an inn, the Palace of the Kings towering in the distance. They had hidden their armor and weapons on the road and were now dressed in common clothing.

"They are looking for a warrior and a mage. Now we are just of the common folk! Nobody will even look at us twice."

Nephiah exhaled audibly as she scanned the roads and windows. People everywhere, workers, traders, every single one of them a potential threat. "Should have brought the swords."

Brelyna looked at her for a second, then grabbed both her shoulders and turned her towards her. "Don't start anything, all right?"

Nephiah's gaze slipped into the distance, taking note of yet another dangerous commotion on the streets.

Brelyna touched her chin and turned her head back to face her. "I am serious. We mustn't draw attention to ourselves. No amount of kisses is going to repel the trouble that will descend upon us if we get caught here."

Nephiah's look darkened. That sounded more like a challenge than a warning.

"Nephiah... Please?"

She closed her eyes and loudly exhaled yet again. She wanted to scream and take down everything that moved. But Brelyna's presence made it bearable, calmed her, provided security where she would not have found any. She nodded quickly.

Shouting approached. Nephiah flinched and nervously looked over her shoulder to see where it was coming from. A Dunmer woman turned the corner at a brisk pace, followed by a Nord wearing dirty, ragged robes, a beggar by the looks of it. "Who do you work for?!", he shouted.

The woman moaned. "Not this again."

"Who do you report to, Dark Elf?!"

"I am NOT a spy! Get that through your thick head!"

The man stopped her movement by grabbing her shoulder and turning her around.

"Don't touch me!"

Nephiah's fists tightened, she looked to her side.

Brelyna looked her in the eye and slowly shook her head, thusly denying her request to charge in and kill the man.

"I'll call the guards!" The woman looked genuinely worried.

"What guards!", the beggar yelled back. "The ones we just passed in that alley? Or those over there!"

She turned to see a couple of guards warm their hands by the fire. They had clearly noticed the scene but didn't look like they had any interest in getting in the middle of it.

"Nobody is going to help you." He menacingly took a step towards her, she backed away.

Nephiah looked at Brelyna again, her eyebrows raised as if to ask 'How am I not killing him right now?!'.

"No!" was the whispered response.

The woman began to slowly reach for her dagger. "Why don't you ask the Argonians?"

"Who are they going to spy on from outside the city! YOU they let in!" He took another step towards her. "Oh you love the Dunmer people."

Confused, they both looked to the side. Brelyna approached, followed closely by her warrior who continued to scan the beggar's every movement.

"How dare you?!" They stopped standing at the woman's side. "A poor man like you...", Brelyna continued, "...a cripple, begging for scraps of food from other people's tables..." The man's rage stopped, he was not used to backtalk from them. "We give you something to look down upon. Makes you feel better about yourself."

The woman gave off a short laugh as her stance relaxed a bit and watched the shock on his face with amusement.

"And you love us for it. You don't want us gone, that would make you the lowest rung of the ladder."

His shock turned to anger, he turned towards her.

Nephiah instantly stepped between them, the rage in her eyes meeting the rage in his.

"What are you going to do, Dunmer filth?! This is OUR city!" His right arm moved back, he took a swing at her. She grabbed his wrist mid air with her left hand, deflecting its course down and to the right, twisting it, spinning him around. He released a short pain filled scream.

She held him there and continued to twist the arm upwards behind his back, making him bow forward. The woman laughed again, more out of surprise than anything else.

"Trouble?" The two guards had left the fire and were now standing behind them.

"Guards! Do something!", the beggar screamed.

"You had that coming, Angrenor. We told you before, if you keep teasing the animals, eventually one of them is going to bite.", one of the guards replied.

The woman now looked thoroughly entertained. "Looks like they don't care much about you either."

Nephiah gave his arm another twist, he screamed again.

"All right, all right, that's enough.", the other guard reprimanded her. No reaction. She twisted again, she wanted to hear a snap.

The guards stepped closer, ready to grab her arm. "I said, that's enough!"

Noticing the incoming danger, she turned her head slightly and looked to her side, already planning out how to take them on. But instead she felt another hand on her, coming from behind. Brelyna touching her shoulder softly was a signal she would respond to. She let go of his arm. He stumbled forward a few steps, then angrily turned around.

One of the guards pointed at him in a commanding manner. "Walk it off, Angrenor!"

The beggar begrudgingly began to leave, emitting unintelligible mumbling. The guards turned and walked away as well. "Stay out of trouble, Elf."

"Thank you, sera.", the woman said relieved. "He can be a real nuisance."

Brelyna's eyes finally detached from Angrenor in the distance. "Not at all. I never liked coming here. If I wanted disapproving looks I would have stayed at home."

The woman laughed. "My name is Suvaris, where are you headed?"

"I am Eravani, the silent one is Nevrith."

Nephiah gave her a confused look.

"We were hoping to see the court wizard."

"Wuunferth?", Suvaris said surprised. "He only works for Ulfric as far as he is concerned. Generally not a pleasant man. What do you want with him?"

"We were hoping he could help us with a magical problem at our farm..."

"Huh. He doesn't grant audiences. And looking like you do I doubt the guards would let you through without a good reason."

Brelyna looked down on herself, trying to find a fault in her wardrobe. "Looking like me?"

Suvaris put a finger on her ear.

"Oh." Brelyna said part sad, part offended.

"You know what you could do? You could try talking to Hillevi Cruel-Sea. She's got a stall in the market. Wuunferth has some kind of standing order with her, she is always looking for couriers."

Brelyna's eyes lit up. "Aha! That we will do, thank you!"

"Least I could do. They are closing up though, you should try in the morning."

"All right, I guess we better find a place for the night. Thank you again." She turned towards the Inn.

"I wouldn't." Suvaris stopped her. "I'm headed for the New Gnisis Corner Club over in the Gray Quarters. If you want a place where you can rest undisturbed, you may want to try there. They don't have any rooms but the owner never threw a Dunmer out that fell asleep at his table."

"All right?" Brelyna looked at Nephiah and made a quick head motion to follow.

Snow began to fall over the ancient stone walls that made up most of the city. As they traveled through streets and alleys, the face of the city began to change, less guards on the roads at first, then none. The cities well maintained houses and infrastructure turned into a rundown slum. The number of beggars in the streets grew exponentially, so did the number of Skeevers one could hear rattling about in the city sewers.

Brelyna shuddered.

"Never been in the Gray Quarters, huh?", Suvaris inquired, noticing her discomfort.

"No... I usually just went to the White Vial."

"So you're an alchemist then?"

"Just a farmer... Are you sure we couldn't have stayed at the Inn back there?"

"Well." Suvaris' face showed that she was about to talk from personal experience. "It is a Nord Inn, if you know what I mean. The innkeeper will take your gold but that's about as far as their hospitality to our kind extends. And then you'll still have to deal with the derogatory remarks made by the patrons."

Nephiah watched two beggars huddle together as the winds began to rise. She was tense ever since they entered Windhelm, registering every face and their intentions, trying to find the dangerous ones. Even the ones that were just going about their business were constantly monitored. She had seen the cruelty of the common people, she knew that often times you can't tell until it is exercised. But looking around the faces here, bitter, void of hope, something else flared up in her. She couldn't quite define it but it made her sick to the stomach. The need for action became overwhelming.

"And to really rub it in, they hired a Dunmer girl to sing Ulfric's praises in there."

"Really. How did they get her to do that?"

"Damned if I know. I heard she's got a crush on the young Nord blacksmith. Maybe it is love that blinds to a degree that's just unhealthy."

Brelyna looked at her love who was looking all around, taking stock of all the people she saw. For a moment she considered where she was before they met, and where she was now. "She isn't welcome with the Nords, she isn't welcome with her own people either. They feel strongly about 'collaborators'. Azura, I'm just doing the accounting for a Nord's business and I'm not going to hear the end of it anytime soon."

"Want to buy some flowers? Please?" A Nord girl, maybe eight years old, suddenly stood in front of them. Her hair was unkempt, her dress dirty and showing wear and tear, she had a flower basket in hand.

Both Nephiah and Brelyna stopped, Suvaris continued on without looking. After a moment she noticed her followers had fallen back and turned around. "Leave the Nords to themselves, sera! They wouldn't lift a finger to help one of ours!"

Nephiah made fists, looking upon the defenseless creature. A fire was burning inside of her, it demanded action. But she didn't know what to do, she just wanted to hit somebody.

Brelyna crouched down so her eyes were at level with the girl. "Hey.", she said softly. "What's your name, little one?"

"Sofie?", the girl said, unsure why someone would want to know.

"What are you doing out here all by yourself? Where are your parents?"

"They... they're dead. My Mama died when I was little... I... I don't remember her very well. My father was a Stormcloak soldier." Seeing Brelyna's compassionate face, a kindness she hadn't seen in a long while, the girl opened up. "When he left he told me not to worry. Because he would follow a man named 'Head-Crusher'. He said he was as tall as a giant and would protect him. But he never came back."

"Azura..." Brelyna looked up at Nephiah who's face had frozen as she listened to the girl's story. A tear rolled down her cheek.

"I'm all alone... I... I try and sell flowers so I can buy food. It's not much but... what else can I do?"

"Um... so..." Brelyna tried to compose herself. "How much for your flowers?"

"One gold piece? Will you buy one, please?"

"Actually, I think, I'll buy all of them."

The girls face lit up. "Really?!" "Really."

Brelyna opened up her belt pouch and handed over a small bag of coins.

"This is great!", the girl said like this minor act of kindness was the best thing that ever happened to her.

Brelyna took a fist full of mountain flowers and stood back up. She put her free hand on Nephiah's shoulder. She flinched. "Do you have a place to stay?"

"Niranye lets me sleep in her yard."

"Her yard?" Brelyna looked up, dark grey clouds covered the sky, big snowflakes calmly falling onto her face. "Yes, if you sleep close to the window, it's not that cold! Thanks again!"

With that she left, eager to spend the coin on something that would fill her belly.

Brelyna's eyes followed her until she was out of view. She then looked at her love. She knew that look. Guilt was eating her up, not long until she'd look for a fire to hold her hand into.

She gently touched her cheek, smearing the tears away. Nephiah opened her eyes and looked at Brelyna, pleading for forgiveness, saying all the things she said before, how she had been made a monster, how she hated herself for it.

"I know...", Brelyna whispered. "Come on, let's find some place warm."

Suvaris had already gone ahead so they were following the footprints in the fresh snow. Eventually they found the tavern. Song and chatter was heard through the door, Nephiah stopped. Brelyna just looked at her, giving her a moment. After a short while Nephiah took a deep breath and grabbed the hand of her mage. They stepped through the door.

It was lively inside, filled to the brim, exclusively with Dunmer. They had gotten a couple of looks as they entered but everybody went back to their conversation quickly, not paying much mind to the new arrivals.

"Well.", Brelyna said to her side, "If we wanted to blend in, this would be the place."

They worked their way past the filled tables and found a place to sit at the bar. They spotted Suvaris at a table in a corner, Brelyna gave her a short wave, she nodded back.

"Welcome, sisters." The barkeep settled his forearms on the counter in front of them. "I see you already met our most famous slave to the Nords." The last part he said in a volume that would reach Suvarises ears. Nephiah looked up, she instantly noticed the scar beneath her glove.

"Leave me be, Ambarys!", Suvaris yelled back, "I just want to drink in peace!"

The barkeep smiled as he looked back at Brelyna. "I don't think I have seen you before, what brings you here?"

Brelyna quickly checked how Nephiah was doing. She had her eyes firmly fixed on her fists which were being pressed down onto the counter in front of her. Her breathing was deep and steady.

Brelyna looked back at the barkeep. "Actually it was Suvaris who recommended the place if a couple of Elves wanted to find some peace for a night."

"Did she now?" He looked to the back of the room. "Maybe some Dunmer lives in her yet."

He looked back at Brelyna. "This isn't an Inn, mind you. I don't have beds for rent."

"Yes... I don't suppose we could occupy one of your tables? It's just for tonight. I don't want any trouble with the Nords."

"Yet.", Nephiah interjected. She slowly looked up to Ambarys, she didn't mean to say it out loud. Surprised he scanned her, taking note of the scar on her face, her muscular build, the severity in her eyes. Even in common clothes and unarmed, she was menacing. He didn't envy the one with whom she actually wanted trouble.

Brelyna nervously looked back and forth between the two, this could escalate quickly. Her reaction didn't go unnoticed either.

"Who did you say you were?"

"J-just a couple of farmers from down south."

Ambarys began to smile, seeing right through the lie. "Farmers, huh. Well I don't see a problem there. Make yourselves at home."

Both of them began to relax.

"What'll it be?"

"I don't know, what do you have?"

"The best Sujamma you're likely to find this side of the sea. It'll keep you warm with thoughts of home."

"Got anything to eat?"

"How about some Horker and Ash Yam Stew? My recipe is..."

"Yes two of those please!" Brelyna interrupted him.

He laughed. "Coming right up. That's your table over there." He pointed at two patrons who vacated their seats and went for the door.

As they settled down on their simple wooden table, Brelyna noticed the ever growing restlessness of her opposite. She put her forearms on the table and moved her head forward as far as she could. "I know you don't like it here. Just focus on me, all right?"

Nephiah looked up at her, her pained, frowning eyes wide open.

Brelyna put her hands on Nephiah's fists. "Remember why we're here. If we are going to have any chance at getting to Wuunferth, we must not be noticed."

"Here's your food, enjoy." Ambarys had approached with two bowls that he put down on the table.

"You know what?" Brelyna stopped him as he was about to leave. "I think we will try some of your Sujamma."

He smiled. "You won't regret it. Your friend certainly looks like she could use some." He left for the bar.

Nephiah had been staring into Brelyna's eyes for the entirety of the exchange. As their eyes met again, she turned her wrists and took her hands. Brelyna looked at her with big eyes. The pain on her face was gone but she was very alert.

Something was about to happen. Nephiah moved her hands up and placed a quick kiss upon them. "Wait here."

Brelyna did not like the sound of that. Her warrior, out there, alone, any number of things could go horribly wrong. "As you wish, just don't forget about me..."

With that Nephiah stood up and rushed to the door.

Brelyna stood up but didn't follow. "Neph... Nevrith!"

The door shut behind her warrior.

"Damnit!" She sat back down, feeling very uneasy about the immediate future. "I should have come here alone. Stupid stupid stupid!"

The snow had settled, stars were twinkling in the clear night sky. The air was bone chillingly cold. Nephiah began to run, retracing the steps that brought her to the tavern. Eventually she reached the spot where they met the girl. She stopped and looked around, found the direction Sophie ran to and followed. Eventually the faint traces of little footsteps disappeared in the snow. She looked around in panic and began jumping walls, looking into people's yards.

Passing house after house, the cold began to get to her. Finally she spotted an empty flower basket sitting on a storage barrel in one of the yards. She jumped over the wall and stayed low as she looked around. There she was. Curled up under a window, eyes closed, faint breaths forming little puffs of steam in front of her face. She moved up and shook her shoulder.

Sophie startled as she opened her eyes, she hadn't been sleeping.

"Shhh." Nephiah said reassuring her. "I have a place that's warm. Want to come?", she whispered.

Sophie looked around in confusion.

"My friend is there too, remember her?"

No response.

"You'll freeze out here!"

Finally the girl nodded and stretched out both arms.

Nephiah took hold under her arms and lifted her up to carry her back. She was practically weightless, her body gave off no heat. Nephiah took a deep breath and began to run.

Brelyna was nervously poking her stew with a wooden spoon, waiting for the trouble Nephiah would inevitably bring with her as she returned. And sure enough, the door swung open, Nephiah stepped in, carrying the flower girl. Then she kicked the door shut.

"Ohnonononono." Ambarys immediately stepped away from the counter. "We don't want their kind here."

Nephiah ignored both him and the looks of the other patrons, she went straight for her seat and sat down, continuously rubbing the girl's back to get the cold out of her.

"What are you doing?", Brelyna whispered as Ambarys arrived at their table. "We don't want anything to do with Nords in here, all right? Just as they don't want anything to do with us."

Nephiah didn't look at him. She just kept trying to get the girl warm.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

He put his hand on her left upper arm to try and get her to stand up. Nephiah's movement instantly stopped, she slowly looked up. She looked at him like a predator would look upon its prey. He was startled and let go of her arm.

That was it. Whatever was going to happen, would happen now, there was no stopping it.

Resigning to the reality of the situation, Brelyna crossed her arms and leaned back. "I wouldn't have done that. She killed people for a lot less than this."

Ambarys believed her. "Alright listen! You can stay the night, tomorrow morning you're gone! All three of you! Deal?"

Brelyna instantly stepped in. "Deal!"

She then quickly reached across the table and took her warrior's hand.

Nephiah slowly removed her gaze from her target, directed it forward and continued to rub the girl's back. Both relieved and disgruntled, Ambarys returned to his place behind the counter, the conversations in the room flared back up.

Brelyna laughed with relief. "Look at you, being so very civil. I'm so proud of you!"

Nephiah was cradling the girl who had finally stopped shivering. Her entire attention was focused on her.

Brelyna leaned back again and smiled at the tender scene. "I knew you were somewhere in there."


	22. Two Dunmer Walk Into a Bar

**Chapter 22: Two Dunmer Walk Into a Bar**

 _"That is going to leave a scar." Frokwulf was crouching outside of Nephiah's cage, looking deeply unhappy about the fresh wound on her face._

 _The cut burned under her eye, down to her chin, heating up her entire face. She didn't let him see her pain. She had trained herself to hide it the second she realized he took pleasure from it. She could tell from the most subtle changes on his face, his stance, how he enjoyed her pain, how it bothered him when he was denied a reaction. Things so subtle, she was the only one to notice them for nobody else knew him that well. Over time the threshold where she could not contain it was beyond the things he could do to her. And he did try. But she didn't exist, nothing he did to her mattered. So she could revel in those little victories, however insignificant they were._

 _"Is everything alright?" The necromancer approached them, having settled his dealings with the elder vampire._

 _Frokwulf got to his feet. "I don't suppose you can..."_

 _"Sorry.", he got interrupted. "I do not deal in matters of life, you know that."_

 _He looked down to the slave in the cage, she was staring motionlessly onto the floor. "Well with one exception. But she is not it." He gave off a quick laugh._

 _"We will have to postpone then. She needs to heal." Frokwulf crossed his arms._

 _"No. This has to happen now. And I need a living subject as a conduit."_

 _"We have dozens of living subjects available."_

 _"Yes... Slave, look at me." Nephiah didn't react to the necromancer's voice._

 _Frokwulf took note and intervened. "Slave."_

 _Nephiah looked up, her face purposefully void of expression._

 _"So she only listens to your commands?", the mage inquired._

 _"Yes. Or the ones I tell her to. That's how I make your merchandize as well."_

 _The mage laughed. "You know, that never ceases to amaze me."_

 _"She is mine." Frokwulf didn't respond to flattery._

 _"Well let's just say that if I do not perform this ritual now, our entire enterprise is going to crumble. You have some interest in avoiding that, yes?" The mage looked him in the eye with a superior smile._

 _Frokwulf looked down at Nephiah. "Why her?"_

 _"I don't know." The mage looked back down as well, her gaze was still upon him. "There is something..." He pondered as if trying to find words. "Fire? No. A certain... aura." For a moment he looked confused. "Are you sure you have her tamed?"_

 _"Without question."_

 _"Hm. Well she will do is all I can say. It will be painful, but no lasting damage will be done, I assure you." He bowed down to Nephiah, moving his face close to hers. He was surrounded by an eerie pocket of cold air. She could see his eyes under the hood, giving off a faint violet glow._

 _She was terrified._

 _"You will suffer for me, won't you, child."_

Nephiah awoke with a short scream, jumping into a standing position, knocking over the chair she was sitting on. Sweating and breathing heavily, she looked around, trying to get her bearings.

The tavern was empty, both Brelyna and the girl weren't there.

Ambaryses help was sweeping the floor in the corner. Daylight was seeping in through the cracks in the door. "Your friend left a while ago. Said to tell you to wait for her.", the man holding the broom said.

"Where is Sophie..." Nephiah uttered.

"The girl? Left as well."

She took a menacing step towards him, he instantly raised his hands in surrender, still holding the broom in his right. "Of her own free will, I swear! Said something about flowers and stormed out!"

Nephiah's stance relaxed, she put the chair upright and sat back down. She liked the place better now that it was empty.

The door opened, instantly inviting a swell of cold air. "Nevrith! You're awake!" Brelyna entered and sat down opposite of her.

"Nevrith...", Nephiah uttered annoyed.

"Shh, we are in disguise...", Brelyna whispered, smiling back at her.

Nephiah crossed her arms and leaned back. "All right then, um..."

"Eravani."

"...Eravani."

The help looked at them, noticing the odd conversation.

"Where have you been?"

"Don't be mad at me."

Nephiah raised an eyebrow. "Mad?"

"I went to see Wuunferth."

Nephiah's eyes widened, she untangled her arms and put both hands on the table. She tensed up. "Alone?!"

"Yes, I posed as a courier like Suvaris suggested, was no trouble at all. I thought it best to get the lay of the land. You know, so we know who we are dealing with before we start punching him. See if we have the right man."

Nephiah gave her a disapproving look. She disapproved less of Brelyna's initiative than of her making fun of her tactics. She exhaled audibly and relaxed. "So?"

"So I got to talk to him a little bit. Asked him about his magic. And here's the odd thing. He said he was a mage from the College."

Nephiah began to listen closely to Brelyna's report.

"Now I haven't studied the College's history. His name was never mentioned but he may well be. But. When he told me he specialized in Conjuration magic and I asked if he was a necromancer, he said that he would never do that for the College forbids it."

She paused, highlighting the importance of the statement. "The College does not! In fact it is the only magical organization that has NOT outlawed Necromancy. The Conjuration Master told us as much during orientation. He is definitely hiding something." Nephiah pondered a moment.

"Had I been there... I know what he looks like."

"Yes, well. Right now, if it's really him, he doesn't know that we know. We have time to find a way to get him to leave the city. Maybe catch him alone and off guard? You would have punched him!"

Nephiah crossed her arms again.

"As I said. There's no way we fight him here and live."

Nephiah looked to the door, a moment passed. "And I am expecting us to live!"

Brelyna reached across the table and put her hands down. "Both of us!"

Nephiah looked back to her mage, her arms still crossed. "I have to see him."

"Well aren't you the lucky one."

They were crossing the Grey Quarters, the sky was covered in white textureless clouds, most of the city was covered in snow, the brightness of it hurt Nephiah's eyes.

"Ulfric is going to give one of his speeches in a bit. His senior staff will stand at his side, including his court wizard."

They reached the street they had found the girl on earlier, Nephiah's eyes lingered on the empty spot as they passed.

"She ran out early." Brelyna said, noticing her interest. "I haven't seen her since."

"I may have made her an orphan." Nephiah's words were barely audible.

Brelyna took her hand. "I know."

A huge crowd had already gathered in the yard in front of the palace. Guards were placed at every alleyway leading to it, a garrison of Stormcloak soldiers stood in formation to the left and right of the massive doors that lead to the throne room. They formed a corridor at the end of which a wooden podium had been placed. The numerous conversations going on melded into a loud white noise that bounced back and forth the high stone walls that surrounded the court yard.

They found themselves a place close to the edge, standing on top of an old stone that stuck out of the wall. Whoever would exit those doors, they would get a good look.

"OU ou ou!"

Nephiah was still holding Brelyna's hand and her grip had begun to tighten. The yard was tightly packed, she didn't like it one bit. So many faces, so many threats, too many to monitor. She felt trapped, defenseless, the ancient stone walls closed in on her, seemingly squeezing the crowd closer together, closer to her. Her breathing got faster as her eyes widened and franticly rushed across the sea of people. It was cold, yet she began to sweat.

She felt a soft hand on her cheek giving her a nudge, enticing her to turn her head to the side. Her panicked gaze met Brelyna's big, red eyes, looking at her very calmly. "Can I try a spell on you?"

She gave no answer, her heart rate was too fast to focus.

Brelyna moved in and kissed her, a quick one to remove the icy crystals that had begun to form, the second one she made last. As their lips held contact, Nephiah's eyes closed. Her cheeks flushed, the noise of the crowd began to fade away, slowly, steadily. Her grip loosened, her hands moved around Brelyna's hips. She took in her taste, her smell, her texture, until all she heard was two hearts, beating in tandem. Eventually they detached and looked each other in the eyes.

Brelyna smiled lovingly. "This spell I learned from you."

"Dark Elf filth!", a voice echoed through the yard. A chewed upon apple was thrown their direction, it splashed on the wall behind them.

Nephiah found the Nord in the crowd that was angrily looking at them. She turned to charge him.

Brelyna instantly grabbed her. "Nonono! Look!" She made a head motion pointing at the two hundred soldiers standing in formation in front of the palace. "Not here!"

"What are you afraid of, Rolff?!" Ambarys approached, yelling at the assailant. "That those girls will take on an entire Stormcloak garrison?"

"I'm afraid of nothing!" The Nord yelled back. "Go back to where you came from!"

Ambarys stopped beside them and began to ignore the Nord. "That's Rolff Stone-Fist. A perfect example of what's wrong with this city. In a minute you will see a large Nord pass through those doors right behind Ulfric. That's his brother."

Nordic horns sounded, the crowd began to cheer. The massive doors rumbled deeply as they were pushed open. Two columns of guards passed through, then Ulfric, his right-hand man and his court wizard. Upon arriving at the pedestal, Ulfric stepped onto it and raised both his arms, the cheers of the crowd intensified.

Nephiah's eyes locked onto the man in the hooded robe. He looked familiar, but at that distance, any bearded mage in a hood would look alike.

Ulfric waved, making the crowd go silent. "Brothers! Sisters! Fellow Nords!" His voice echoed loudly across the yard. "I know the days are cold! The winter is long! The Empire has left us starving!"

Ambarys laughed. "Look at him in his fancy armor, talking about people starving. Yet when the hungry beg for help, his inaction speaks infinitely louder than his words."

"He's got quite the voice..." Brelyna said.

"You don't know the half of it."

"So let me remind you why we fight! We fight for the men who died on foreign soil for foreign goals! I fight for their wives and children, whose names they whispered in their last breath! We fight for we few who did come home, only to find our country full of strangers!"

The crowd cheered.

"We are Nords! The Empire would have our ancient ways wither and die! Our sacred traditions a distant memory!"

The crowd roared.

"And why? Because they do not possess the strength to rule in dignity! Because they fled from battle with their tails between their legs! That is NOT OUR WAY!"

The cheers became deafening.

"And we are supposed to pay for their cowardice? No! The true Nord will face his enemy on the field of battle, without fear! Like those brave brothers and sisters who fight for you this very day! Embedded in camps deep within their own land! In Falkreath, the Reach, and even Haafingar! Right outside the walls of Solitude, the Imperials too weak or too scared to do anything about it!"

The crowd didn't quiet down, yet he could still be understood.

"OU ou ou!"

Nephiah's grip tightened again. She had not heard a word of the speech, her vision fixed on the mage, analyzing his stance, his movement, the subtle changes in demeanor one makes without thinking.

And she began to recognize the man behind the hood.

"Holding hands really becomes an issue with you!", Brelyna said frustrated. She could tell that Nephiah wanted to go to him and subtly applied pressure to the hand holding hers to keep her from storming off.

"It's him.", Nephiah said without looking away from him. Then she looked to her side, to the force stopping her from doing what she needed to do, the fire in her eyes a mixture of pain and rage.

There was that look again, Brelyna thought. This particular look she had seen at the Stormcloak camp. And inside the Hall of the Vigilants. She shook her head ever so slightly.

Nephiah let go of her and pushed herself into the crowd.

Like swimming across a strong current, she pushed people to the left and right, making her way closer to the podium step by step, earning many angry looks from the people she shoved around.

Eventually she broke through the front line. The sudden appearance of an Elf with violence in her eyes made two guards draw their swords and point them at her throat, she stopped her movement.

Aside from the front row, the crowd didn't much notice, still cheering loudly.

The three men elevated by the podium looked at her, the large Nord standing behind Ulfric took a step forward, his hand on his weapon.

Ulfric seemed to weigh his options. Publically executing an unarmed Dunmer commoner would only serve to complicate the situation in his city, something he didn't have time for. He stretched an arm out to the guards, motioning for them to stand down.

"Fellow Nords!", he said to the crowd.

Then he looked at her. "And friends to Nords!"

If she moved, she would die. Nephiah knew it, Ulfric new it. He had given her a final warning, a chance to walk away.

She looked up at him, assessing the situation, the fire within her burning painfully strong. She knew this fight was a losing proposition, she was trying to figure out if she cared. A hand touched her shoulder from behind and turned her around.

Brelyna's face showed how deeply worried she was. She took her love's hand and pulled her back into the crowd.

The guards sheathed their blades, Ulfric continued his speech to fire up his supporters. "I promised you victories, and with your blood and your steel you have achieved them!"

Leaving the crowd at the opposite end of the yard, they found themselves behind the inn that had greeted them when they first entered the city.

Nephiah pulled her hand back, and stopped.

Brelyna turned around. The look on her warrior's face spoke volumes. She was in pain and she blamed Brelyna for not letting her do something about it. She took a step closer and took her hands again. "We have to be smart about this."

"Smart!" Nephiah yelled. "Do you know what they have done?"

Brelyna had read the journal. She knew about the cold, calculating brutality Nephiah's captors had exercised. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like. And more importantly, she couldn't begin to imagine the things that were not detailed in the journal.

"My love..."

Looking into Brelyna's worried eyes, Nephiah's anger faded, yet the pain remained. Tears formed in her eyes.

"...we will end this, I swear to you."

A moment passed, Nephiah was torn, she still wanted to turn around.

The crowd behind them cheered yet again.

"Please...", Brelyna said, gently pulling her arm, begging her to follow.

Nephiah gave in.

The first public refuge was the inn. It was deserted, only the innkeeper stood at the counter.

They immediately proceeded to go upstairs to find a place to settle down. "Hey!", the woman yelled. "This isn't a shelter! Buy something or get out!"

They stopped.

"Ok?", Brelyna said annoyed, "Do you have pie?"

"Yes we do."

"Two slices then!" She turned to continue upwards.

"Gold up front!", the woman said harshly.

Brelyna moaned and angrily stormed to the counter. That woman was making the simple task of sitting down to calm her love insufferably difficult. "Here!" She slammed a fist full of coins on the counter, a lot more than needed.

The forceful gesture disarmed the innkeeper. "R-right away..."

Brelyna turned to Nephiah who was restlessly waiting for her on the steps, took her hand and led her to a table by the fire. Nephiah put her fists on the table surface and closed her eyes, trying to calm down.

Brelyna pulled a chair up beside her, sat down and put an arm around her. "You know what we'll do when this is all over? We'll move somewhere far away from the world of Man."

Nephiah looked at her from the corner of her eyes. "We'll build a house. Maybe on a lake. Imagine the quiet, you and I, sitting on the porch, overlooking a sunset that glitters red in the water..."

The image appeared in Nephiah's mind as clearly as if she was there, her heartbeat slowed down.

Brelyna sighed. "Do you see it? That must be what peace looks like."

They heard the door opening, footsteps of several people climbing the stairs. The event had come to an end.

"Hey!", the barkeep yelled, they looked towards the stairs. "Buy something or..."

"Not in a million years will I touch that sewer water you call spirits, Elda!"

"Bah!" Ambarys emerged from the stairwell and went straight for the couple, pulling up a seat, sitting down. He looked excited. "So." Both of them looked at him with confusion. "I saw you storm to the podium. That wouldn't happen to be the Nords with whom you don't want any trouble... 'yet'?" He grinned.

"None of your business." Brelyna tried to shut him down.

"Because if that's the case, those are a couple of very powerful Nords. The two that were standing behind Ulfric are even worse than he is!"

Nephiah looked up at him. When it came to the wizard, she could testify to that.

A Dunmer woman passed the table, carrying a lute, a big smile on her face. Ambarys got distracted. "Well if it isn't Luaffyn, the happiest Dunmer in Windhelm." He spit at her feet.

The smile on her face vanished, she continued to a corner, trying to ignore him.

"And all you had to do is betray your people! Your family!", he yelled after her. Then he looked back at the couple. "Excuse me." He got up and followed the bard.

Brelyna sighed again. "Yes. Very far away from here."

Nephiah squeezed her eyes shut.

A Nord in steel armor rushed past the table, it looked like he was trying to escape the well dressed Imperial that followed him. "No!", he yelled over his shoulder. "But you must know a few tales of nobility and courage! Look at you!"

"Listen. I do the deed, collect my gold, that's it."

"Alright? Gold for a tale then."

The Nord stopped and turned around. "You want to pay for my rambling on about killing bandits.", he said in disbelief.

"Yes!"

"...step right this way." They settled at a table in the back.

Nephiah closed her fists back up.

A man in a white apron came up the stairs, followed by the innkeeper. "I am not a servant, Elda! I cook, I keep the fire lit, that's all!"

"Please Nils, it's hard to find a replacement, I am trying!"

"Why don't you do it? All you do is stand at that counter all day." He placed two plates with pie in front of the couple. "Enjoy."

He turned back to the stairs, the innkeeper kept following him. "I have to keep an eye on the door, you know that! Never know when some grey skin tries to leave with something that doesn't belong to them!"

"Why don't you let me do that then?"

"I... I'd rather not."

"Then excuse me, I have wood to chop." The door downstairs slammed shut.

Brelyna monitored Nephiah closely, taking note of how it was increasingly difficult for her to tolerate all the commotion. "Maybe we should leave..."

A Nord walked up to them with disgust in his eyes.

Brelyna looked up at him, instantly feeling uneasy.

"I like to go to the Grey Quarter at night and let them Elves know what I think of them. Then I come here to wash off their stink!"

Nephiah opened her eyes and sized him up. Then she looked to her right. "Now?"

"No..." Brelyna whispered.

"Now you bring your stink here.", the Nord went on, "Where is a Nord to go to escape your filth!"

Brelyna gave off a short laugh in disbelief.

The look on Nephiah's face darkened. She looked to her right. "Now?"

"No!"

"But maybe I shouldn't escape.", said the Nord, "Maybe I should follow the example that Ulfric set and fight the unwanted, foreign rabble that invades our land." He made fists.

Upon registering the more aggressive stance, Nephiah's eyes formed slits, following his every movement.

"Leave me alone!"

The bard crossed the room, followed by Ambarys. "You sing songs of Nordic values like you believe them! You know what those values are?! Honor! Loyalty! The exact opposite of what you are doing here! And for what?! A warm body to lay with?!"

The bard stopped and turned around. "What?!"

"I have seen how you look at that blacksmith! A Nord through and through! And you debase yourself for her affections!"

"I... I don't believe what you just said!"

"More of you!", the Nord yelled towards them. "Isn't it enough that I have to put up with that bard every day?!"

"Well, you are welcome to come to my tavern at night, Rolff!", Ambarys yelled back. "See how big you feel then!"

Rolff pressed his lips together and turned back to the couple. He pulled a chair up and sat down.

Brelyna looked at him, expecting nothing good to follow, Nephiah was monitoring him closely.

His hand suddenly swung up and implanted a steel dagger deeply into the table. "How about we take this outside.", he said in a threatening tone of voice.

Nephiah looked to her right.

"All right.", Brelyna said, her irritation giving way to anger. "But only a little."

Without hesitation Nephiah reached over, grabbed Rolff's right wrist and pulled his arm to her side of the table, making his chest impact on the surface, his head smashing into a piece of pie. Holding the arm in place, she quickly stood up and pressed the side of his face down.

"There goes breakfast." Brelyna sighed with a half smile.

Nephiah moved her head down to his ear. "How about we do this right here."

The room quieted down, everybody looked at them.

"How dare you!", Rolff said, clearly in pain. "Do you know who I am?! Do you know who my brother is?!"

She pressed down a little harder, he gave off a short scream.

Brelyna looked around, trying to find the right time to tell her to stop. It wasn't the time yet, she did enjoy the show somewhat.

So did Ambarys who spontaneously began to applaud.

"Yes.", Nephiah said in a menacingly calm tone of voice. "I know exactly who you are. What you do. Seen it up close." She twisted the arm a little more, making him scream again. "You have hurt people. And you liked it. And you hide behind your brother to keep them afraid. Coward." She twisted the arm behind his back, the darkness in her eyes showed her intent. "Call him. Call your guards. Call your army. See if they stop me from killing..." She twisted the arm to the breaking point. "...you."

A deep crack sounded, he screamed unintelligibly. White puffs of steam formed in front of his nose.

Nephiah shuddered at the sudden drop in temperature, it was as cold as outside, even though they were close to the fire place. As she noticed the complete lack of noise in the room, she slowly looked up.

Wuunferth stood in front of her, absorbing every bit of heat around him. His dark, hooded robe covered his eyes in shadows but by the purple glow beneath she could tell, he was looking right at her.

She instantly let go of Rolff, getting into an upright position, taking a step back.

He wanted to retaliate right away but his movement froze as he noticed the Court Wizard behind him.

"Leave us.", he simply said.

Everybody complied. Rolff left for downstairs in a hurry, so did Ambarys. Everybody else turned away and tried hard to direct their attention elsewhere.

Brelyna stared at him, his presence terrified her.

Nephiah's stance showed she was ready to jump him at a moment's notice.

"Sit with me.", he said.

He held his right hand up, it began to emit an orange glow.

Nephiah lunged forward and pulled the dagger out of the table.

"A-a-ahh.", Wuunferth said, warning her. His left hand had formed a fist, emitting tiny sparks of lightning that ran up his arm.

Patrons looked over and instantly forced themselves to look away again.

"Let's talk like civilized people." Rolff's chair moved close to his right hand without him touching it.

Nephiah lowered the weapon slightly.

He sat down.

Combat scenarios were running through her mind. Having witnessed what he can do first hand, she wanted her armor, she wanted her swords. She slowly sat down as well.

"Why don't we all put our hands on the table so we have no secrets." He put his hands down in front of him, Brelyna hesitantly did the same.

Nephiah sat motionlessly, her every muscle tensed up. She received a gentle nudge from the side, reminding her to follow suit. She stuck the dagger into her belt and complied.

"C-can we help you?", Brelyna said after a moment of gathering courage.

He looked at her. "Hillevi's courier, are you? You did seem awfully interested in my craft."

"I don't know what you..."

"You can drop the act."

And so whatever courage she had gathered was gone, Brelyna fell silent.

He looked at Nephiah, saw the fire in her eyes. "I know you. One can see that aura of yours through walls. If one knows what to look for." His right hand began to glow again. A subtle wrist movement pulled the glove off Nephiah's left hand, exposing the branding.

Brelyna gasped, Nephiah's focus was thrown off kilter. She felt exposed, vulnerable, her demeanor shifting from aggressive to defensive. She covered the scar with her other hand.

"I knew you would come eventually.", he said in an eerie tone of voice that sounded like an elder and a younger man were talking simultaneously. "Funny you should find me this very day."

He produced a piece of paper from his pouch and placed it in front of him. "I have lived for a very long time. Do you know what I have found? There are no coincidences."

He stood up. "I suppose we have business to settle, you and I."

He hit the piece of paper with his index finger. "Midnight. Tonight."

He turned his back towards them and calmly headed towards the stairs.

Within a split second Nephiah had jumped to her feet, taken the dagger from her belt and hurled it towards his head. And no sooner had she sent the blade on its trajectory than he had raised his hand, making reverse course. Nephiah had to evade to the side to not get impaled herself, it eventually got stuck in a wall.

Wuunferth neither turned around nor stopped walking down the stairs. "Temper, temper, my child. Midnight will come soon enough." His voice returned to sounding like the old man he seemed to be. Eventually they heard the door downstairs open and close, the heat of the fire returned to the room.

Brelyna exhaled loudly, her tense stance collapsing the second she heard the door close. She had held her breath for a while. "Damnit."

Nephiah slowly sat back down, her eyes still locked onto the spot on the stairs where he had left her field of vision.

"Well." Brelyna took a deep breath. "So much for catching him off guard." She ran a hand over her eyes, trying to shake off the adrenalin rush, then looked at her warrior who was silently staring forward, tears forming in her eyes. She quickly reached across the table and picked up the piece of paper. It was a map, marking a location outside of Windhelm. "All right.", she said, "That. Is a trap." She stuffed it into her pouch.

Nephiah still didn't move.

She reached over and turned her head to place a gentle kiss onto her lips.

"Want to go get him?"

Nephiah's gaze switched from empty space in the distance to Brelyna's eyes right in front of her. And as if that was an instant infusion with energy, she stood up, put the glove back on and headed to the exit.

Brelyna took another deep breath and pushed herself to her feet. Her knees were still shaking. "M-hm.", she said to herself, nodding reaffirmingly. "We are going to die."


	23. Bound Together

**Chapter 23: Bound Together**

"There is nothing here!"

They had collected their equipment and made their way to the spot marked on the map. It was a vast open space with nothing but rocks, a few trees and snow on it. The spot was only a few hours out, so they arrived mid day. A cold sun stood high above them, making the snow-covered scenery seem even more bright.

Nephiah covered her aching eyes and leaned against a rock. "Midnight.", she said.

"Really?" Brelyna kept looking around, trying to find the trap that Wuunferth had undoubtedly prepared for them. There was nothing, not even any distinctive features save for a few rock formations sticking out of the snow. She checked the bushes between a handful of lonely trees. Nothing. An icy wind blew downhill, carrying snow with it. "I don't get it, what's his trick?"

Nephiah was still leaning against the rock, a hand over her eyes. "We won't know until it's time."

"All right?" Brelyna stepped closer to her through the knee-high snow.

"That gives us time to lay a trap of our own!"

Nephiah opened her eyes and looked at her.

Then she began to look around and scan the environment.

Brelyna tried to find the things her warrior was examining. "Setting traps is your area of expertise. Any ideas?"

Nephiah silently stepped into the middle of the field and looked up hill. Trees and bushes to her left, high rock formations to her right. The mountain led further down behind her, that was where they had come from.

High up in the distance in front of her she spotted a structure. She pointed at it. "Look."

Brelyna joined her at her side and put a hand over her eyes to provide shadow as she spied into the distance. "Is that a Dwemer ruin?"

Nephiah looked to her right, scanning the rocks. "Could be close enough."

She stepped over to the largest of the rock formations, it towered over her a fair amount. The top of it blended into the hill like a ramp, the vertical side in front of which she stood was covered in plant life, moss, ranks of flora that were somehow resistant to the cold. Ice spikes were hanging over her head, the wind blew snow over the ramp on occasion.

She brushed away a few of the plants, revealing cracks in the rocks. She moved her head close.

After a moment she waved for Brelyna to come to her.

"Well?"

"Shh."

Brelyna listened. The wind was howling. Eventually she could make out something else from inside the rock. "Ohnonononono."

They moved their heads back.

"That's just going to make it worse!"

"For emergencies." Nephiah unsheathed one of her swords and moved around the rocky wall, up the hill and onto the ramp now standing above Brelyna. "Step back."

Brelyna took a few steps back. "I don't like where this is going."

Nephiah raised the sword high up above her head, holding it in both hands, then brought it down with all her might, implanting it into the wall at a point where in had naturally formed a small crack.

Brelyna couldn't help but smile at the sight of the maneuver. She knew nobody else who could implant swords into walls of solid rock, she loved it when Nephiah did that.

Nephiah covered up the hilt of the sword with some hanging moss and moved back down beside her.

"We'll just have to make some noise."

Brelyna crossed her arms recounting the various times they had been in combat. "Somehow I don't' think that will be a problem."

They looked around, the wind howling down from the mountain already began to displace snow, covering up their footsteps.

"Now what?"

"Now we wait for midnight."

Dusk was falling over the land, the sky transforming into shades of blue that got progressively darker. The last rays of sunshine loomed behind the mountains, covering them in colors of deep red and orange.

They had picked a direction at random and walked half an hour until they found a place that was protected from wind and made camp.

Their fire crackled calmly, Nephiah tossed away the last bone of a rabbit they had caught and roasted.

Brelyna gazed upon the horizon, drinking in every bit of red and orange as it slowly faded and turned to blue and then to black. "Wuunferth...", she said eventually, "...he is the last one, isn't he?"

Nephiah was poking the fire with a stick, sending bits of glowing ash dancing up into the night sky. She nodded.

Brelyna lay down on her back, looking at the stars above. "All right." She took a deep breath. "And then we find ourselves a lake. Somewhere without snow. And we build us a house with a porch to sit on."

Her mind drew lines between the stars, forming all the images she described.

Her warrior lay down beside her.

She turned to her side, took Nephiah's hand and lead it up, resting her head on her strong shoulder.

The flickering fire illuminated half of the branding, she gently moved her thumb over it. "And when we sit there, waiting for the fishing rod to twitch, none of this will matter anymore. There will be no pain, no conflict, just us. And how it is when it's just us."

She placed a kiss onto the scar. It didn't hurt when she did that.

A tear fell out of the corner of Nephiah's eye and made its way across her temple. The image filled her with warmth, she wanted it. She couldn't remember existing without pain. But hearing Brelyna describe it, she could almost believe.

And as she almost believed it, Frokwulf invaded her mind, brought a whip down on her back and yelled "You don't exist!" She gasped, then squeezed her eyes shut to try to expel him from her mind.

Brelyna instantly noticed, not that it was hard to miss given that she was now holding a tightly closed fist. She had begun to notice every single time her love was suffering, even the small ones when it would only be a slight movement of her brow or her shoulders being held just a little bit higher than usual, things the outsider wouldn't see. And she felt it too, every time.

But this was a big one. She began to play with the ring on her finger. "Look." She put her own hand on top, placing the rings side by side.

Nephiah opened her eyes and looked.

"Bonds of Matrimony...", Brelyna said, "We never had a ceremony. Maybe we could go to Riften some time. Visit the Temple of Mara. Very different from Dunmeri customs. Less rituals and less burning of tapestry."

Nephiah looked at her, an eyebrow raised.

"Don't ask.", Brelyna giggled. "But here, they are a lot more straight forward with it, you'd like it. You go in, say your vows in front of the priest, that's it. You're bound." She looked up to her love. "I'd do it, you know."

Nephiah looked back at her.

"Because wherever you go, I go. Whatever you do, I do. So what, if it hurts."

Nephiah looked into her eyes, the light from the fire was casting the delicate curves of her face into light and shadow in a way that was not tangible. It was poetry. How such a being of pure warmth, pure light could ever have found it in her to love the hideously deformed creature she had become, she did not know.

She didn't deserve to be here. In this place of death, of pain, of violence. But neither did she believe her mage would let her go alone, nor did she possess the strength to ask anymore. She couldn't bear the thought of going alone... anywhere.

For a second, she considered letting it go. Breaking camp right now to find that lake and build that house. For her.

"You don't exist!" A crack of a whip.

She flinched. She couldn't let it go. Because it would never let her go. She had to end it.

"M'aiq once knew a priest of Mara."

Startled, Nephiah jumped to her feet, assuming an aggressive stance, Brelyna sat upright.

The cat slowly stepped into the light, his hands already raised, he knew the drill.

"Damnit, M'aiq!", Brelyna yelled. "Are you following us?! How come we keep running into you?!"

Nephiah relaxed her stance.

"Skyrim is not as big a place as people may believe.", he answered in his typical cryptic way. "May this one sit?"

Brelyna looked up at her warrior, who sat back down beside her after a moment. "All right."

M'aiq sat and held his hands to the fire, sizing them both up in his usual manner. "How far you have come."

The couple looked at each other, then back at him.

"One of these days, M'aiq...", Brelyna said, "You will have to start making sense."

"This noble warrior might just be able to convince M'aiq someday." He smiled and pointed at Nephiah.

Brelyna gave off a short laugh as she pushed herself closer to her love to lean on her.

The look on Nephiah's face informed him that this noble warrior might convince him to cut out the wise cracks instead.

A moment passed by, he was rubbing his hands, getting them warm. "M'aiq has heard many stories. Seen how they begin, how they unfold. Yours seems to have found an end."

Nephiah began to feel uneasy.

"Have you considered a different path?"

She had. She couldn't. She became restless and began to untangle herself from her mage's embrace. "We should go."

"Nono!", M'aiq yelled as if to stop someone who was about to step into a bear trap.

Surprised at the outburst they both looked at him.

"You still have time. Don't waste it. M'aiq is intruding, he will leave."

He got to his feet as Nephiah settled back into Brelyna's arms.

He turned to leave but then stopped. "A long time ago...", he said over his shoulder, "...a Priest of Mara taught M'aiq the sermon held at their temple. The one you were talking about." He turned around. "It is an oath, a binding ritual. M'aiq is not a priest but he could say the words for you. If you wanted him to."

Brelyna turned her head and looked at her love with big eyes. "I know it's stupid, but..."

She was interrupted by Nephiah letting go of her and moving to her armor that was resting a couple of meters away from the fire. She reached into the pouch and produced a headband made of mountain flowers.

Brelyna gasped as she was presented the gift. "Are those the ones from the flower girl? When did you make this?! How did I not notice?"

Nephiah just silently held it in her out stretched hand.

Brelyna stepped close to her and bowed her head, a big smile on her face. "Would you?"

"It was Mara that first gave birth to all of creation and pledged to watch over us as her children." M'aiq stepped close to the fire, opposite of the couple. "It is from her love of us that we first learned to love one another. It is from this love that we learn that a life lived alone is no life at all."

Nephiah slowly placed the flowery crown on Brelyna's head.

"We gather here today, under Mara's loving gaze, to bear witness to the union of two souls in eternal companionship. May they journey forth together in this life and the next, in prosperity and poverty, and in joy and hardship."

They held hands, deeply looking into each other's eyes, taking in each other's presence, the warmth, the indescribable safety they felt.

"Brelyna Maryon, do you agree to be bound together, in love, now and forever?" The smile returned to Brelyna's face as she gazed into the depths of her warrior's dark, warm eyes. She couldn't help but think back to the first time she saw her stepping out of the shadows in that cave. How awe struck she was, how awe struck she still is. The trials they overcame, the ones that were yet to come, how given the knowledge she'd do it all over again. For the first time in her life she was certain about who to be and what to do. For the first time she stood tall, undoubted by her opposite, undoubted by herself. "I do. Now and forever."

A tear rolled down Nephiah's expressionless face.

"Nephiah, do you agree to be bound together, in love, now and forever?" Nephiah looked down to the hands she was holding, then back into Brelyna's eyes, smiling at her in expectation. She was broken, a monster, a vortex of death and suffering, waiting to devour anything it touched, she had no illusions about that anymore. Brelyna deserved so much better than this. But for some reason, this creature, so kind, so brave, had chosen her. Loved her. She moved in to kiss her.

Brelyna giggled, tapping her on the shoulder. She moved her head back, her eyes inquiring what the problem was. "It's an oath, you see. You must say the words." She giggled again.

Nephiah raised her eyebrows, feeling strangely embarrassed. She knew nothing of traditions or rituals.

She looked at M'aiq, he smiled and nodded slowly. "W-would... would you mind..."

He gave off a short laugh. "Nephiah. Do you agree to be bound together, in love, now and forever?"

She looked back at her mage. "I do. Now and forever..."

Brelyna squealed and threw her arms around Nephiah's neck, pushing herself up to her toe tips and kissed her passionately. Nephiah's arms moved around her, lifted her up until her feet left the ground, their two shapes intertwined into one.

M'aiq smiled and stepped away from the fire. "M'aiq hopes to see you again...", he said as he faded into the shadow of the night, "...he really does."

Nephiah put her newlywed back onto her feet and looked to where he had disappeared.

"What?", Brelyna asked.

"Did we ever tell him our names?"

Brelyna now looked to her side as well. "Um... no? I don't think so at least?"

"Huh."

After a moment Brelyna looked up into the sky, a sea of stars, two large moons rising over the mountain tops. "He was right, you know."

Nephiah looked back to her.

"We still have time." She smiled as she ran her hand down Nephiah's neck, then along her collar bone. The most subtle change occurred on Nephiah's face, letting her know that she had just realized what she meant. Without hesitation she was lifted off the ground. She laughed loudly as she was placed on the furs they had laid out next to the fire.

A wolf howled in the distance, responding to the laughter that echoed through the night.

"Did you hear?", Brelyna giggled. "We disturbed the wolves!"

Nephiah moved over her and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "They have seen nothing yet."

Brelyna laughed again as Nephiah moved in to kiss her cheek and neck, her laughter driving deep into the sky, reaching even the farthest snow-covered trees.

The wolf peeked through the bushes into the direction the strange sound was coming from. It howled again.

They were lying close together, facing each other, their legs entangled beneath the furs. Steam rose from their sweaty skin, the fire cast its warm light upon them. Various articles of clothing were scattered all around.

Brelyna smiled, she carefully scanned each little detail of Nephiah's face. She wanted to stay like this forever. But she could already see the subtle changes in her eyes, the pain in her was ever present. How she wished it wasn't so hard to make her smile. "So I've been wondering...", she eventually began. "You had a lot of books back in your cave. There were books on spells, books that hone your skills, historical accounts..."

A moment passed. "Yes?", Nephiah said, a big question mark on her face. "You've been wondering what?"

"Well... you can't read. So why bother?"

"Oh." Nephiah stopped looking into her eyes. "I thought I might learn some day, I don't know."

Brelyna smiled a moment then gasped. "Oh! I could teach you!"

Nephiah looked back into her eyes, always amazed beyond measure when Brelyna wanted to do something for her. She was planning for a future that was uncertain at best. She had seen the power of her foe up close, dying quickly could be considered a winning scenario.

They didn't even have much of an element of surprise. If they could get close enough without being spotted.

Scenarios ran through her head, her face showed the burden she carried. She had wanted to die for as long as she can remember. And she had finally found someone to do it, someone more powerful than her rage.

But now there was Brelyna, smiling back at her, the embodiment of kindness, giving her a reason to stay. She couldn't let it go. But she couldn't let her die either, not for this, not by his hand, not ever. No matter the cost.

She gently touched her face. "I lov..."

Brelyna instantly put a finger on her lips. "Don't say it." She had read every thought of hers in her eyes. "I can say it all I want. I love you. Love you, love you. See?"

Nephiah raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"But if you say it... it just sounds like 'Goodbye'."

Nephiah closed her lips and turned to lie on her back, Brelyna rested herself on her shoulder. "Books that hone your skill?", Nephiah said after a while.

"Yes?"

"Any books on dual wielding?"

"Um... Yes." Brelyna wondered where this was going.

"Read any to me while I was asleep?"

"Yes, I figured that would be something you'd read."

"Huh."

"What?" Nephiah jumped up and grabbed the sword and dagger that were sticking in the ground next to her armor. "Look." She performed a complicated maneuver with both blades, swirling each over her head, crossing them in front of her face until finally sticking them both out to the left and right. "Some of it must have stuck."

A big smile formed on Brelyna's face as she watched the performance. "Azura... That would have been attractive had you worn armor! But like this!" She crawled out from under the furs in a feline manner and made her way up Nephiah's front, resting her hands on her shoulders.

She had a very seductive look on her face. "Why don't we explore some more Argonian culture." She gently licked the tip of her nose and giggled.

Nephiah looked to the sky to see where the moons were standing.

"We still have time, don't we?"

As Nephiah looked back into her eyes, her nose was licked again.

Both blades dropped simultaneously, she threw her arms around her mage and lifted her off the ground so she now looked slightly up into her eyes. "I lov..." A finger was put on her lips yet again.

"Na-ah.", Brelyna said. "Don't say it. Show me."

Nephiah moved her right hand up behind her back, spun her legs around and put her down onto the furs. "Your wish, noble mage..." She moved over her, Brelyna's arms moved around her neck. "...is my command."

Wuunferth stood in the middle of the icy field which glittered blue in the moon's eerie twilight. He was chanting quietly, his hands raised to hip height.

The Dunmer were staying low as they approached the bushes between a few lonely trees. They were traveling light, leaving their backpacks behind at their camp.

"What is he doing..." Brelyna whispered.

Nephiah's eyes formed slits as she watched him closely, scanning his surroundings and the space between them. He was about ten meters out, too far to jump him. "Wish I had a bow."

His chanting began to get louder, he raised his hands to shoulder height. The earth began to shake, giving off a deep rumbling noise. The thick layer of snow in front of him broke open, a pedestal rose out of the ground. It looked ancient, like it had been buried there for a very long time.

Nephiah's eyes widened, she began to breathe deeply as the scene felt uncomfortably familiar.

Brelyna instantly noticed. "What's wrong?"

"I've been here before..."

A flash emanated from the pedestal's top. As it faded one could see a black soul gem that had appeared, five times the size of the common variety, hovering in the air. Tiny lights were swirling around under its surface.

 _Nephiah closed her fists as hard as she could. She was petrified. She couldn't move, being bound to a wooden T-cross._

 _Frokwulf stepped between the dozens of skeletons and Draugr that were guarding the ritual._

 _He reached the middle. "Remember. No lasting damage."_

 _"Do not worry, old friend.", Wuunferth said, aiming his right palm at the tied up girl in front of him. "But do bear in mind that, no matter her training, this will make her scream."_

"Nephiah!"

She flinched and looked to her side.

Brelyna had placed her hand on her shoulder, great worry on her face.

"There will be a lot more soon.", she whispered.

"A lot of what?"

Nephiah unsheathed her sword. She looked at her target, darkness settled in on her face. She moved her arm back and took aim. Then she froze, the rage in her eyes giving way to surprise and fear. The sword fell from her hand.

"What is it?!" Brelyna looked out onto the field.

She gasped as she realized that Wuunferth was looking straight at them, an orange glowing hand stretched out. He quickly closed the hand, Nephiah was violently pulled out of her hiding spot towards him, she landed face first in the snow in front of his feet. He held his hand over her, his spell continued to push her to the ground. He looked down upon her as she struggled to push herself up. "I told you, I can see you through walls."

"Damnit!" Brelyna instantly charged a fireball in each hand, jumped to her feet and fired the projectiles in quick succession.

Wuunferth's ward was only visible for a split second when blocking the fire, it was a spell he had mastered a long time ago.

His left hand shot forth and grabbed Brelyna in the distance the same way he had gotten hold of Nephiah. She was hurled through the air and landed in the deep snow next to her warrior.

The earth rumbled yet again, the snow broke open behind them, a wooden T-cross rose from the ground. He turned his wrists so his palms pointed upwards, the Dunmer were lifted into the air, there he held them for a moment. "Telekinesis.", he said in a smug tone of voice. "Such a useful spell, yet no one bothers to learn."

He brought his hands forward, moving both through the air until they were positioned at the cross, Nephiah facing him, Brelyna at the back looking out.

"Amazing are the things you can do with just a few centuries of practice."

Nephiah's steel plated boots fell to the ground, her gauntlets flew to the left and right, disappearing in the darkness. Thick ropes were lifted from his pouch and shot through the air to bind their wrists and ankles to the cross tight enough to cut off blood circulation to their hands and feet.

Nephiah pressed her lips together. Brelyna gave off a short, pained scream.

His hands released the spell, they both fell until the ropes held them. A moment of silence passed as he looked at his handiwork.

"Since I have your attention, I suppose it would be rude if I didn't tell you what is going to happen to you." He walked around the pedestal so that the soul gem was hovering between them. He looked very pleased with himself. "Since you are no longer a slave, I mean."

Nephiah silently gazed back at him, hatred burning in her eyes.

It seemed to amuse him. "The world of the arcane holds many secrets, you see. Even the key to immortality for those who are willing to look."

Nephiah began to struggle against her restraints, pulling her arms forward.

Brelyna instantly cried out in pain.

Nephiah stopped and turned her head, trying to get a look at her. Their wrists were bound by only one rope each. If one of them struggled, the rope on the other side would tighten further.

"It hurts...", Brelyna said softly, pain in her voice.

"Shhhhh...", Nephiah tried to comfort her.

Wuunferth smiled again. "Yes, you seemed to have an affinity for each other. Also hard to miss."

Nephiah looked back at him, the fire in her eyes flaring back up. She wanted to reach into his chest and rip his heart out with her bare hands. She was certain she could break the ropes, her muscles fueled by the need for action. But in the best of cases she would break Brelyna's wrists in the process. In the worst of cases her rage could make the rope cut right through her.

So all she could do was remain motionless, at his mercy of which she knew he had none. She remembered this feeling all too well. A tear rolled down her face.

"Ah, there is that soul of yours, I can see it clearly now. It burns flaming red. Ask your conjurer over there, she may have seen it." He looked into the soul gem, dozens of little lights dancing inside of it like a swarm of fireflies. "The soul. The very essence of life. The Dwemer figured out ages ago that it can be used to power all kinds of things. Turns out that if a living being absorbs enough of them, they can even revitalize a dying body. Make it immortal."

The souls trapped in the gem were reflecting in his eyes as he stared into it almost as if in a trance. After a moment he snapped out of it and looked up at his captive. "The civil war was kind enough to provide these souls this time around. Channeled through a conduit strong enough to survive the process, they will add another twenty years to my life." He positioned himself between the cross and the pedestal. "And as you have already figured out, you are that conduit."

His hands began to emit a dark purple glow as he raised one up to Nephiah and pointed the other at the gem. It began to hum. Slowly at first, then faster and faster. The movement speed of the many sparks inside it increased until they melded together into one bright light that illuminated the entire area.

A ray of light shot out of it and hit Nephiah's chest, she pressed her lips together at the unpleasantness of the experience.

Brelyna turned her head to the side as far as she could to try and see what was going on behind her back. She could see the light but not her warrior. She could however hear muffled moaning, letting her know in how much pain she was. "Nephiah!"

A second ray of light shot forth. It connected her to Wuunferth's stretched out hand. She squeezed her eyes shut. Little glowing sparks began to leave the gem, passing through the light into her. She clenched her teeth together as the muscles in her entire body tightened and her fingernails dug into her palms. She tried very hard not to pull against the ropes with all her strength.

The sparks then left her through the second stream of light and moved towards the necromancer. He inhaled deeply as the first few reached his hand, illuminating his arm in bright blue light up to the shoulder. Eventually more and more souls shot out of the gem, passing through her into him.

Her short, muffled moans became louder and more consistent, until even her self control could not suppress it any more. She opened her mouth and began to scream loud, agonized screams, turning her head, left and right, tears shooting into her eyes. It was bone chilling, her voice traveling so far out into the night that even wild animals in the woods turned tail and ran.

"Nephiah!" Brelyna yelled in panic, trying to get through to her. This sound she had never heard before. Not fire, not lightning, not getting run through with a sword, Nephiah had never given off as much as a whimper. And here she was, screaming her lungs out in pain. Tears filled Brelyna's eyes just as surely as if she was on the other side of the cross. "My love!", she yelled as loudly as she could. "I am right here! I am with you, please! Just hold on!" She tried to light fire spells to burn through the rope but it was hopeless. The sound of Nephiah's voice made it impossible for her to form any thought coherent enough to make a spell manifest. She kept trying. "Come on!"

The color of Wuunferth's beard darkened as the process went on. Grey at first, solid black eventually. The wrinkles of his aged face disappeared, he was getting younger with every soul he absorbed.

It seemed to take forever, each soul slicing through Nephiah's very being like a thousand blades, through her chest, her stomach, her neck and hands, her thighs and the bottom of her feet and behind her eyes. She violently twisted her neck left and right, screaming to let it out somewhere, blood dripped from her tightly closed fists.

And through all of this, she did not pull on her restraints. Some of her agony should have naturally transmitted to Brelyna through the ropes that held them both at the cross. But it didn't, she made sure of it. Instead off pulling, she pressed her hands back against the wood as hard as she could. It was the only thought left in her.

The last of the souls vanished in Wuunferth's hand. The rays of light instantly fell dark, the gem dropped to the ground, not a single light left inside it. Wuunferth dropped to his knees, breathing heavily.

Nephiah's entire body fell limp. Fine puffs of steam rose from her skin.

"Nephiah! Say something!" Brelyna tried to yell but panic had taken her breath away. Her voice was high pitched and barely audible. She received no response.

Wuunferth got back to his feet and stretched his limbs. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, now wearing the body of a young man. "Thank you for that." He walked to the cross and began levitating until he was hovering at Nephiah's height. He grabbed her chin and moved her head up to get a look at her. He gave her a few gentle slaps until she opened her eyes.

She looked at him, exhausted, half alive, barely aware of where she was. Pearls of sweat ran down her forehead. "You are extraordinary!", Wuunferth said laughing. "I didn't think anyone could go through this twice!" He let himself drift back to the floor. "Not that I have ever tried. The process usually isn't lethal so I disposed of all the conduits I used over the years. Couldn't have someone wandering about, knowing my secret recipe, now could I. It was your old master who insisted on keeping you."

Usually the mere mention of Frokwulf would send Nephiah into a killing frenzy. But she was spent, she was just hanging there, breathing heavily, her body burning up, her every fiber aching.

"Which is why I find the method by which I shall dispose of you now rather fitting."

Tears ran down Brelyna's face, she was still trying to ignite a fire spell. But her hands failed her, her mind racing with horrible scenarios that were to happen in the immediate future. "Azura... please..." No matter how hard she tried, how she gestured with what little freedom of movement she had, no flame would ignite.

"You know I went back to our little lair after the High King had unceremoniously dismantled my operation. Been looking for you ever since. There are stories about you from Ivarstead to Riften. Cautionary tales about the 'Savage Elf in the Woods' that parents tell their children so they don't wander off." He laughed. "Well. Killing you will be a kindness, I feel. So how about we call it even." He raised his hands, they began to emit a dark purple glow.

"You call that magic?" His spell instantly faded as he looked around to see where the unknown voice came from.

Neloth walked out of the dark of night and entered the field, followed by an infantry division, thirty men in bonemold armor, marching under the Telvanni banner. "There are much more elegant ways that yield the same result. But what do you expect from a Nord."


	24. The Field In Which They Died

**Chapter 24: The Field In Which They Died**

"And who would you be?" Wuuhferth's hands began to emit sparks of lightning as he turned to face the intruders.

Neloth crossed his arms, he didn't look impressed. "My name is Neloth of House Telvanni, and these fine young men..." He waved a hand dismissively pointing at the soldiers behind him. "...well I'm sure they all have names as well."

"House Telvanni? I heard it was all but destroyed." Wuunferth was stalling to charge his spells, he did not care. He just wanted them gone.

"Reports of the demise of house Telvanni are highly exaggerated. And it just so turns out that you have a member of this house captive and are proposing to kill her. I object to this proposal."

Wuunferth looked to the cross in surprise. "No not that one. The one on the other side."

"Oh the mage, I see. Well how about you take her with you and let me go about my business?" He had no intentions of letting Brelyna go. He had kept the nature of his existence secret for a long time and wasn't about to let anyone run off with the knowledge.

"Yes..." Neloth said in his usual way that let his opposite know how much beneath him they were. "...Taking her is certainly part of it. Draw weapons." Metallic swishes sounded as the thirty men behind him unsheathed their swords almost simultaneously.

"Do you know your history?", Wuunferth said as the purple glow from his hands began to expand up his arms.

Neloth began to watch him closely and arrived at a slightly more aggressive stance.

"Many centuries ago, on this very field, two great armies of the ancient Nords met each other. They wiped each other out quite effectively, so the tale isn't well recorded. But surely a seasoned master of the arcane like you can feel it. The essence of the two thousand souls that perished here." His feet lifted off the ground, he began to hover. "They still linger."

Neloth looked over his right shoulder. "Kill him."

Half of his men began to approach the floating necromancer that had begun to emit flashes of lightning from all over his body. The flashes hit the ground all around him in ever increasing frequency. Before the soldiers could reach him, the earth began to shake and rumble, more violently than before. It took but a few seconds before the ground broke open in dozens of places both around Wuunferth and further out, up the mountain, beside and behind Neloth and his men.

Skeletons and Draugr, the reanimated dead of the ancient Nords that died in the battle Wuunferth spoke of, armed with ancient swords and axes, rose from the fields in great numbers. What seemed like a few dozen at first, quickly turned into hundreds, growling, menacingly banging their weapons against their shields. The ground they stood upon began to sink deeper and deeper as the corpses that were buried beneath it crawled to the surface. The soldiers didn't hesitate so bring their swords down on the undead that were rising in their immediate vicinity.

A moment of silence.

Wuunferth hovered a good deal over the battlefield, glowing in bright purple light. He had his arms at his side, his palms pointing forward. He slowly raised a hand and pointed at Neloth.

Without hesitation the swarm of undead began to stream towards the Dunmer, the earth trembling beneath their feet.

Brelyna looked at the scene in terror. Fortunately, the cross they were tied to was high enough for the undead masses storming by to not be able reach her. They didn't even seem to notice them up there. "Nephiah! Are you there?!" Still no response. She sure could have used her strength in that moment.

Neloth began to look worried as well, a look for which he wasn't known. His men formed two circles to defend against the hordes that closed in from all around them. The circle of soldiers that had stayed with Neloth had encased him in an effort to shield their commander.

He walked up to the man in front, put his elbow on his shoulder and pointed at the cross. "We are moving over there!", he yelled to make sure he was understood over the loud rumbling of undead footsteps.

While the Draugr closest to the groups were quick to attack and put down just as quickly, the mass of undead now hit the Dunmer like waves would hit a rock that sticks out of a furious sea. Their shields and armor were made of sturdy material so they could survive the initial force. They were pushed backwards however, decreasing the diameter of their formation somewhat.

As they came to a stop, each soldier drove their sword into the undead that was pushing against their shield. They then collectively pushed back, toppling Draugr over, the next wave climbed over the fallen. The clashing of steel against steel became louder and they were now fending off incoming battle axes and ancient swords.

Neloth rose over his group and began to release exploding balls of fire into the masses. He did not have to aim, anything with an area of effect worked quite nicely. Bits and pieces of dried bone and rotting flesh were hurled through the air upon impact.

The fighting skill of the Dunmer became evident as they cut down wave after wave. The movement of the undead was slow, their dexterity inferior.

Neloth's group moved towards the cross at a slow but steady pace.

Wuunferth turned towards the mage that hovered above it. He raised a hand towards him, then closed his fist.

Neloth instantly noticed the telekinesis that was trying to get hold of him but was able to withstand it with his own which was keeping him afloat. His position wavered as he turned to his arcane opponent and sent a powerful thunderbolt his way.

It impacted on Wuunferth's ward, doing no damage but propelling him backwards a fair bit where he eventually landed on the ground, his fall softened by the high snow.

Neloth let himself drift to the ground. He walked up to one of the soldiers. "Get Maryon to Windhelm! I'll deal with this N-wah!"

"Yes Sir!", the busy soldier shouted back.

Neloth lifted himself off the ground and began to move towards Wuunferth, releasing blasts of fire into the horde beneath as he went.

The formation of the group in the middle of the field began to crumble. One of their soldiers was decapitated, another one had an axe implanted deep into his chest, a third one stabbed through the shoulder by a particularly impatient Draugr that had climbed over the one in front of him and jumped down from there. With each man they lost, they closed the gap, decreasing the size of their circle.

The second group finally reached the cross and took up position around it. One of the soldiers broke formation by taking a step back, the circle closed in front of him. He turned around and looked up at Brelyna, her eyes full of fear. He raised his sword and cut the rope that bound her feet to the cross. She gave off a short pained scream as her entire weight was now held by the ropes around her wrists.

The soldier looked at the problem. She was too high up to reach the remaining restrains. "I need two men!", he shouted. Two soldiers moved back into the circle, the remaining fighters closed the gap. "You! Hold her feet! You! Give me a lift!"

One of them put his back to the cross and reached up, placing his palms under Brelyna's feet, the other one crossed his hands and formed a step. He lifted the first soldier up until he stepped onto his shoulders, then he grabbed his ankles to keep him steady.

The elevated soldier, now at the same height as Brelyna, quickly lost balance and let himself fall forward. He stopped himself from falling by getting hold of her shoulders in reflex.

"Excuse me, Ma'am!", he said, addressing the inappropriate contact with a royal member of his house.

"N-not at all...", she replied, hope of survival returning to her.

His sword cut the rope to his right. Brelyna dropped a few centimeters, her weight now supported by the soldier holding her feet. However, nobody has holding Nephiah up. She instantly fell from the cross and started to dangle on the arm that was still tied to the cross.

Brelyna screamed as the rope was twisted back and forth with every swing.

"Damnit!", the soldier shouted, quickly passing his sword from his right hand to his left. He cut the rope, Nephiah dropped to the ground.

As Brelyna was detached, she fell forward.

The soldier in front of her stopped her from falling, the ones under them doing their best to keep them steady.

"We are leaving!", he yelled.

"Not without her!", she shouted back. He looked down to see the unconscious woman that had fallen off the other side of the cross. He looked back up but before he could answer a number of arrows that Draugr archers had fired from the distance pierced his neck, their tips sticking out the other side. The impact threw his body sideways to the ground, taking her with him.

He landed on one of the fighters that were holding off the undead in the circle. The formation instantly buckled as the surprise of the event redirected the focus of the soldiers next to them ever so briefly. An opening the Draugr were all too eager to exploit, cutting them down.

As the battle descended into chaos, the soldiers gave up any kind of coordinated maneuver, now fighting a more desperate style of improvisation.

Brelyna crawled to her love on her hands and knees. She turned her to lie on her back, then shook her to get her to wake up. "Nephiah! Please!" A sliced apart Draugr dropped beside them, another one in front of them, a dead Telvanni behind them. She moved over her, took her face in both hands and moved close enough to feel her breath.

She had seen her in this state before. Not asleep, more than unconscious. Last time it took her six months to wake from it. She remembered the cold emptiness when she kissed her back then. "I need you..." She pressed their lips together.

Screams and shouts of soldiers, monstrous growls of the undead, the sounds weapons clashing, the rumbling of footsteps, it all faded away as the world around them slowed down to a crawl.

Brelyna's wrists stopped aching, the icy winds stopped chipping away at her skin. Warmth shot through her like a wave, consuming all traces of fear as it traveled through her body. She slowly moved her head back and opened her eyes.

Nephiah looked back at her, very calmly, like she had just awoken from a good night's sleep. "What?"

Brelyna giggled in happiness, her darkest fear taken from her. A tear fell from her eye. "Here you are..."

It didn't take long for the world to reach its usual speed after that.

Nephiah looked around, getting a grasp on what she had missed. She quickly rolled over and grabbed a couple of swords, there were enough of them lying around. She jumped to her feet, followed by Brelyna. She grabbed her hand and pulled her over. "Stay close."

Brelyna quickly nodded, feeling infinitely safer all of a sudden.

A Draugr charged the flank of a Telvanni that was otherwise occupied. It brought its axe down to meet his head, yet it was stopped close before impact by two swords that hit its handle.

Nephiah moved both her arms up, making the Draugr spin towards and past her, then she brought both blades down on its exposed side, slicing it in half. "Who in Oblivion are you?!", the soldier yelled after taking care of his other attacker.

Giving no answer, Nephiah instantly turned to respond to another undead charging their way.

"You know what?! Doesn't matter!" The soldier turned his attention back front.

Staying within earshot of Nephiah, Brelyna began to send balls of fire towards incoming targets. She hadn't even thought about it, she just did it. Just having her warrior there granted her the mental fortitude she required.

An enormous eruption of fire shot into the night on the far end of the battle field, illuminating the chaos under it. Neloth and Wuunferth rapidly rose out of the flames in a straight vertical line, circling each other, casting powerful spells of fire and lightning. It was hard to make out who was who but the intense flickering of orange and blue at the top of the ever-rising column of smoke told the tale of what was happening.

For a moment everybody and everything looked their way.

Regaining focus faster than the Draugr in front of her, Nephiah sliced her right hand sword across it's chest. She used the momentum to bring her left hand sword all the way back, then forward again to decapitate the undead that stood next to it.

The horde stopped looking at the arcane fireworks and turned its attention back to the surviving Dunmer.

From where they were standing, there didn't seem to be an end to them. Nephiah's dual wielding fighting style was able to block, redirect and counter attackers in a 120 degree angle in front of her. Yet there were so many of them, she began to instinctively walk backwards.

Eventually her back met with that of Brelyna and the two remaining Telvanni soldiers. One of them was run through by a greatsword, it created sparks as its tip grazed the back of her armor.

The Draugr held on to the sword as the soldier fell to the ground, putting it in a convenient position for decapitation. An opportunity the last soldier did not pass up.

"Nephiah?" Fear began to grab hold of Brelyna yet again.

"Keep firing!", Nephiah responded, her eyes quickly scanning the movements in front of her, deciding in split seconds which ones to counter. She didn't even seem worried, just very focused on the task at hand.

Brelyna pressed her lips together, switched from fireballs to flames and cast rays of fire out in front of her.

The last Telvanni's head was split open by a battleaxe, Brelyna quickly redirected one hand to fire at the Draugr that held it. They were now standing directly back to back. She began to move her arms in a semi circle in front of her, showering the front row of approaching undead in flames. The skeletons amongst them instantly fell to pieces, the Draugr were set on fire.

Draugr would continue their approach while on fire but they died before reaching her.

She began to feel dizzy, the upkeep of the spell demanded its toll. "Nephiah..."

"Keep firing!", she heard her warrior behind her in between the many metallic impact noises.

"I could use a boost..." Nephiah knew what she was talking about. But she was countering an average of three blows per second. If she turned around even for a moment, the fight would be over.

They were getting incredibly close, the two of them a tiny island in a sea of undead streaming towards them.

"Nephiah..." Her flames flickered unevenly, a drop of blood fell from her nose.

Her exhausted voice drove right into Nephiah's heart. Her focused eyes flared up in fearful realization for just a second, before her senses took in everything around her all at once. Darkness settled on her face. "Brelyna!"

"Yes?"

"Kneel!"

Brelyna was all too happy to oblige. A few moments more and she may have done that regardless.

As soon as she felt the back of her mage slide down, Nephiah brought her right arm back as far as she could, moving her left across her field of vision, deflecting every blade and axe in its path. As the motion was complete, she gave off a short aggressive scream and swung her right sword in a circle in front of her, falling to one knee and continuing to swirl the sword over both their heads counterclockwise, bending backwards when her arm was behind her and forward when it was in front of her. After a couple of rotations every Draugr that faced them was sliced in half at the hip.

The maneuver had bought them a few seconds, so Nephiah did not waste a single one of them. She let go of her weapons, turned around and grabbed her mage by the shoulders. She pushed her to the ground and moved over her.

Brelyna hadn't noticed any of it, she was so dizzy. The cold snow on her back made her open her eyes. There she was. All close and beautiful. That stern look on her face. She began to smile. "Hey you..."

The night sky behind her warrior began to fill up with ancient blades of various types.

"Ward.", Nephiah said.

"Okay.", Brelyna replied, still smiling.

Nephiah's left hand moved under her mage's chin.

The bright blue bubble of Brelyna's ward closed around them as soon as their lips touched. Draugr axes and swords impacted on it as if it was made if solid stone. A second later the bubble expanded half a meter, pushing the undead closest to it back. Immediately after it collapsed onto them, only to then expand with force, pushing back everything in its path.

Draugr were flung through the air like straw dolls, skeletons shattered on impact. It moved out and dissipated after about ten meters, leaving a large snowy hole in the otherwise black field of undead.

Nephiah pushed herself to her feet and extended a hand to her mage. Brelyna grabbed it and was pulled up. They looked around, there were more than enough undead still standing, they began to charge.

Nephiah pulled her mage close.

"Again?", she asked. Brelyna giggled and moved her arms around Nephiah's neck. "I could do this all day."

A second arcane explosion lit up the night sky high above them. It's deep bang powerful enough to make the air noticeably shift. Two objects fell from the point of origin, leaving trails of smoke behind as they went. Snow shot up high where they landed, one of them far to the left of the battle field, one of them far to the right.

As soon as the snow settled an uproar moved through the undead crowd. The ground they stood upon rumbled, eventually opening up and swallowing every single one, leaving only the slain behind.

Whatever spell Wuunferth had over them had lost its power when he hit the ground. In stark contrast to a minute ago, it was dead silent.

"Ou ou ou!" Brelyna held her aching wrists.

Nephiah grabbed both her hands and examined the damage. The ropes had worn off some of the skin, black and blue bruises marked the spot. "So Healing Hands is the only one you know?"

"Yes." she moaned "And that one doesn't work on the person casting it. Also, fox stew. Remember?"

"Hm." Nephiah took bandages from her pouch. A pouch she only wore to hold this particular kind of item. She began to tend to the wounds. "I'm sorry...", she faintly said.

"What? No!", Brelyna tried to stop her, "I can only imagine how hard it was for you on that cross! And I know this would have been a lot worse if it had been anybody but you up there."

"No..." Nephiah was still looking at the finished bandage, avoiding eye contact. "I mean for all of this. For bringing you here."

A moment passed.

"Hey..." Brelyna put both her hands on her face and made her look her in the eye. Guilt was written all over Nephiah's face. Brelyna softly smiled at her. "I am exactly where I want to be, all right?"

Nephiah showed no reaction.

"If my warrior aims to face death itself, where else would I be but at her side?"

Nephiah reached up to take her hands and looked down yet again.

"One day you'll have to start believing me.", Brelyna said, still smiling. Still holding her hands, Nephiah pulled her a bit closer until their foreheads gently touched. Then she looked up, quickly licked the tip of her nose and looked down again.

Brelyna giggled. "That's a start."

Nephiah took a deep breath and looked up. Then to the left, then right.

"Which one is Wuunferth?" Brelyna shrugged.

"Hm." Nephiah picked a direction and started walking. The one on the left landed behind the bushes, she might find her own sword there. A few steps in she noticed she was treading through high snow barefoot. As she remembered why that was, she turned around.

The ward spell had broken off the cross and thrown it outward, along with anything else that wasn't nailed to the ground. No way she'd find her boots in that chaos. Frustrated she continued on her course, followed by her mage. She picked up her ebony sword from behind the bush as they passed it and eventually arrived at the snowy crater left by the impact of a falling mage.

It was Neloth who was lying in its center, his eyes closed. They stepped close and kneeled down.

Brelyna put a hand on his shoulder. She never liked him, but she didn't want him to die either. And this night for his twisted reasons, he had saved her life. "I'm sorry."

Neloth coughed as his eyes were flung open and he grabbed her hand. Startled, she tried to pull it away but his grip was too strong.

Nephiah grabbed his wrist in return, ready to pry it away from her. "That is some power you have, young Maryon...", he said, pain in his voice. He let go, so did Nephiah. "I would have liked to know its secret."

Brelyna's hand was still resting on his shoulder. She smiled down upon him. "It's love..."

His gaze wandered up into the sky, he began to laugh loudly. "That I would never have guessed..." His laughter turned to coughing, blood erupted from his mouth. Brelyna held his hand as he took his final breath. "He is not dead...", he said upon exhaling. He stopped moving.

Nephiah jumped to her feet and turned to look to the other point of impact. She started to run. She went as fast as she could through the snow, climbing over corpses and ancient weaponry.

She was not half way there when Wuunferth ascended from her destination, his entire body covered in sparks of lightning, arcane discharges crackling loudly. She stopped running.

"Did I not promise you a fitting death?!"


	25. Act of Kindness

**Chapter 25: Act of Kindness**

Brelyna arrived behind her warrior who turned and looked her in the eyes. "Fire."

Brelyna nodded and raised her hand towards the necromancer.

Nephiah pulled her close by the hip, looked her in the eye a moment and began to kiss her passionately. A flash emanated from Brelyna's palm, a bright ray of fire shot towards Wuunferth at tremendous speed.

He brought his ward up and let the flames wash over it. He visibly had trouble blocking it, he had crossed his arms in front of his face, it seemed to require his full concentration. Still hovering in the air, he was pushed back from the force of the continuing spell. He clenched his teeth and made fists, concentrating even harder. He hovered to the side, trying to get out of harm's way, but the fire followed his every move.

He began to push forward, towards the fire.

Nephiah moved her head back and turned to check on their target. Upon noticing his approach, she looked back at her mage. "He is closing in."

"M-hm?" Brelyna answered, smiling at her, not a trace of uncertainty on her face, intense fire still erupting from her hand. "Less talking, more kissing."

One side of Nephiah's mouth rose ever so slightly.

Their lips met again.

A bright yellow pulse shot through the ray of fire. As it hit Wuunferth, his ward faltered, he was flung through the air and landed in the snow a few meters back.

The Dunmer turned and began to run to him. Nephiah was ready to run her sword through his heart and put an end to it.

Again, Wuunferth shot into the sky, stopping at about five meters above ground.

"Fascinating.", he said, smoke rising from his robe. "I better keep you separated." He stuck his hands out to them. As his fist closed, Brelyna was lifted off the ground. Her flight path matched his hand as he quickly moved it to his side. She was catapulted through the air and landed in the snow on the far end of the field.

Nephiah's eyes followed her in shock. With little hesitation she stuck her foot beneath a Draugr sword on the ground, threw it up to catch it, turned on her own axis and hurled it at him. He quickly closed a fist, his telekinesis caught it in the air. He gestured further, making the sword reverse course. He reopened the fist, making the blade shoot at Nephiah. It gave off little yellow sparks as it was deflected on Nephiah's armored forearm which she had instantly raised in defense.

"This isn't what I had in mind for you but you are obnoxiously persistent." He raised both hands to shoulder height, the earth began to shake and rumble.

The tremors caused Nephiah to almost lose her balance.

Brelyna pushed herself out of the snow and looked around till she found the two of them in the distance. She began to feel the ground shaking as well. "Oh no... not again!" She got to her feet and charged a fire ball. At this distance her aim wasn't too good but maybe she could distract him.

Wuunferth didn't react to the fireball that passed a good deal behind him.

Nephiah looked to where it came from and spotted her mage across the field. She made a hand motion for her to come over, then began to run towards her.

Brelyna started to run as well.

The ground broke open all over the field, legions dead rose yet again.

"Ancient Nords killed each other in the thousands on this field, my child. So do try to enjoy yourself."

They stopped running as dozens of Draugr got to their feet between them.

"Stay there!" Nephiah yelled and readied her sword. The ebony blade cut through the air with a high pitched swish. "I'll come for you!"

The body lying at her feet was one of the Telvanni soldiers. His sword was of Elven design, she quickly picked it up with her left. Not having to fight with rusted blades that were buried for a thousand years would certainly help. Without hesitation she sliced the two Draugr closest to her apart.

The horde turned to look at her, another eerie moment of silence passed.

"Nephiah?!"

Her love's call for help lit the fire inside her, dark rage settled on her face. She stopped seeing a terrifying army of risen corpses, they were all just future victims of her fury. Woe betide the creature standing between her and her mage. She rotated the swords on her wrists.

"Azura..." Petrified, Brelyna looked into the cold, white eyes of dozens of undead, staring back at her. She charged fire balls in both her hands. Things began to run at her, she released her spells at them, setting them ablaze, throwing them off their feet on impact.

Nephiah spotted the orange light of her mage's fire rise over the army in front of her. She did not wait for them to charge her, she ran at the first Draugr standing between her and the light. Its axe hit her left hand sword, her right sliced it apart at the hip, she didn't stop moving.

Blades coming at her were shattered as they made contact with the ebony blade, both her swords twirled left and right, cutting down two undead in front of her, two more to her left and right. She didn't stop moving. She saw more fire flaring up in the distance, her mage was still fighting. She crossed her blades in front of her face, stopping a battle axe from splitting her head in half. She pushed the Draugr back, giving of a short scream. The push was so forceful, the axe impacted in the Draugr's face and shattered its skull.

She fell to a knee and stuck her arms out to both sides, impaling a flanking undead on each sword. She moved her arms forward, ripping them apart and got back up. The maneuver was over so fast that kneeling and getting up was just another step taken on her way. The undead behind her had trouble keeping up.

Brelyna charged and released flaming projectiles to the left and right, then in front of her, striking down any Draugr running at her. Her eyes were wide open, trying to identify the closest targets. Her spells fired quickly, but there were too many of them. Her breathing got faster as fear took hold of her until suddenly a fire spell wouldn't charge.

In shock she looked at her empty hand, then back up at the monster standing right in front of her. Its distorted voice uttered something she couldn't understand, it raised its axe up high above its head.

Then its top half fell to the ground, leaving its legs and hip standing, revealing her warrior behind it. Without hesitation Nephiah turned around and continued to fend off the masses.

Brelyna's spells started working again. "Damnit!", she yelled, deeply displeased with herself. Even though she loved the fact that the presence of her warrior would always help her magic, she would prefer to not keep failing when left to her own devices. She fired to the left and right while Nephiah took care of the front. "How long can we keep this up?!"

Nephiah didn't answer. She struck out in front of her, running her sword through a Draugr's chest. "Did I have a book on Telekinesis?!", she yelled over her shoulder whilst using her foot to dislodge the corpse from her weapon.

"Yes!"

"We need to get over there!" She pointed at a rock formation sticking out of the horde a good deal away from them.

"I only read the theory! How am I supposed to..." Before she could finish the sentence, Nephiah had turned around and pulled her close. "Oh, right."

The Draugr stopped and looked in bewilderment at the two Dunmer locked in a tight embrace rising from the ground, their heads tilting to the left and right as they shared a passionate kiss. They were slowly spinning around their vertical axis, it almost looked like they were dancing through the air.

Undead archers standing on the edges of the field began to release arrows their way but all missed their target as they moved faster and faster towards their destination. As they arrived, Brelyna gently set them down.

Their lips detached, they looked each other in the eye.

Detecting an approaching swishing noise, Nephiah quickly looked to her left, then pushed Brelyna away. She stumbled a couple of steps, an arrow passed where she had just stood. "You know, this would be fun if it weren't for the constant threat of death!"

Nephiah got a good look at the field from this elevated position. The masses had already turned and were coming for them, the many footsteps rumbling intensely.

Wuunferth was nowhere to be seen. She hurled the Elven sword down into the ever moving abyss, it impaled something down there from the sound of it.

She crouched down at the edge of the rock and reached for the hilt of her second ebony sword, that had been waiting for her since she had driven it into the stone earlier that day. She looked over her shoulder. "Think it's loud enough?"

Brelyna crossed her arms. "You are developing a sense of humor NOW?!"

Nephiah began to utilize her entire strength to pull the sword upwards, using it as a lever to break away the rocks it was stuck in. Her arms, her back, her legs, every muscle was working towards her goal. The rocks began to crumble, dust fell off its cracks. She began to scream as finally the blade moved up and the rocky wall beneath broke apart, creating a small avalanche of stone that crushed a good number of Draugr beneath it, even more as the heavy rocks rolled out into the field.

The entire horde came to a standstill, the sound of a thousand footsteps stopping all at the same time. They looked at the black hole that had been opened up by the Dunmer standing above it. As the dust settled, a cave was revealed to be behind it, monstrous screams echoed forth from the darkness.

The focus of the horde shifted as they turned their weapons towards the cave. A deep rumbling from beneath became louder and louder until suddenly droves of Falmer spilled out onto the field like a fountain, screaming aggressively, jumping the Draugr, cutting them apart.

Many of them had magical staffs that released ice spikes on their foes. A chaotic battle erupted, Falmer and Draugr hacking away at each other, screaming in their respective unintelligible languages.

Nephiah was breathing heavily as she watched the scene below unfold.

Brelyna stepped up behind her. "Now what?"

Nephiah began to scan the field for her primary target. "Where is he?"

Brelyna pointed at the middle of the field.

After a second of focusing on the spot, Nephiah recognized the hooded robe in the middle of rusted armor.

Wuunferth was looking confused and worried as his undead army was decimated. Many Falmer were struck down but the process took its toll.

Nephiah unsheathed her other sword, bloodlust returning to her face.

Brelyna instantly grabbed her shoulder and turned her towards her. "Please...", she said, worry in her eyes, "Don't do anything reckless."

Nephiah looked down into the chaotic vortex of violence below, then back into her eyes, raising an eyebrow.

"All right? Don't do anything ELSE that's reckless." She placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

Her kiss calmed Nephiah's rage as it always did. She moved slightly forward until their foreheads touched. She let a moment pass by, a moment in her presence, they both closed their eyes. She took a deep breath, taking in her sweet scent, the warmth that emanated from her. It was strangely peaceful.

Then she took a step back and removed herself from her mage, she looked up. "I love you."

She turned and jumped. The warm silence faded behind her as she fell, monstrous screams, harsh winds and sounds of war closed in.

Brelyna's eyes opened wide as her gaze followed her warrior into the abyss. She fell to her hands and knees and kept looking over the edge. "You weren't supposed to say it!"

Nephiah came crashing down on a Falmer, implanting both her swords in its back. The body had softened the fall, she quickly rose to her feet, her left hand sword instantly blocking a Falmer sword that came at her from the side. She quickly twisted her sword around the Falmer's until it lost hold of it, propelling it to the side. She then impaled it with her right hand sword from the chin upwards. She retracted her weapon and looked around to get her bearings.

The other Falmer didn't pay her much mind, they were all busy with the Draugr. The number of enemies on the field had been diminishing quickly. Where there was a sea of undead, there was now only groups of them, engaged in combat with groups of Falmer.

Lightning strikes lit up the field a few hundred meters out, apparently Wuunferth had decided to help his ever shrinking army.

She knew where to go.

Few enough of them were left fighting that she didn't have to cut a path to him, she could just walk between them. And so she did, at a slow and steady pace, both swords in hand. Ever focused on the target ahead, beginning to imagine what she would do once she reached him.

"You will suffer for me, won't you, child." His voice echoed in her head.

She pressed her lips together as her lust for blood began to show on her face, the need to cut him down became overwhelming. This was it. The last thread of it to be cut. The pain of memory flooded into her as she began to recognize him between the undead. It was fuel for the fire that raged inside her.

An ancient axe came at her from the side. She blocked with her left and sliced the attacker in half with her right. She didn't even look, her eyes fixed on the purple robe in front of her.

And there he was, his back turned to her, throwing thunderbolts at Falmer, not noticing the real danger that was standing right behind him. She had imagined this moment so many times. In captivity and in the many years after. Standing this close to him. Not bound and helpless, but armed. She tightened the grip on both her swords and began to charge.

Wuunferth instantly turned and raised a hand towards her, lifting her up and throwing her overhead.

She toppled over a few Draugr as she crashed into the ground and slid across the snow before coming to a halt a few meters away.

He walked closer and stuck his hand out again, lifting her into the air. There he held her. The smug look on his face was gone, it was grim, sweating in exertion. "I should have killed you twenty years ago!", he angrily shouted. He focused and began to close his fist.

Nephiah's armor began to buckle, his telekinesis was crushing it. She clenched her teeth as the steel plates she wore for protection became a tight cage closing in on her, bending her bones to the breaking point.

"Better late than never!" He raised her even higher then slammed her into the ground.

She coughed violently as she pushed herself onto hands and knees, trying to find her weapons. As she spotted them in the snow within reach, she was lifted off the ground yet again.

He began to slowly close his fist, the metal of her armor shrieked as it was bent inwards. It was getting hard to breathe, a short agonized scream was all she could muster.

Brelyna watched in terror as she the scene below unfolded. She fired a ball of fire onto him, but he was too far away for an accurate shot. It hit the ground far off to the side, doing nothing but alerting the undead below that had just dispatched the last remaining Falmer to her presence. They growled and began to run around the rocky cave to make their way up to her.

"Azura..." She charged another fireball, she had to do something. But instead of sending it flying across the field, it sizzled out, leaving a slim column of smoke to rise from her hand. "Damnit!" She shook her hand around and tried again. Nothing. "Please! I just need one good shot!"

She began to hear the rumbling of footsteps behind her. She turned to see shadowy silhouettes of undead approaching, axes and swords raised above their heads. She began to make high pitched noises while breathing, panic settled in.

She looked back to the scene below. The Draugr that had remained on the field were forming a circle around their master while he was still holding Nephiah in the air, crushing her at a sadistically slow pace. She was about to die.

Brelyna closed her eyes, relaxed her stance and let both arms fall to her side. "Azura...", she faintly said, "Mother of roses, goddess of dusk and dawn."

The footsteps behind her grew louder, growling of Draugr mixed into them.

"Guide your daughter through her time of darkness, so she may see the path to the light." She closed her fists. "Grant her the wisdom to save those dearest to her." An image flashed through her head. Beautiful dark eyes looking at her sternly, filling her with immense warmth. It was there and gone in a split second. She opened her eyes.

Wuunferth closed his fist further, a cracking noise sounded from Nephiah's chest indicating the first rib had broken. Blood began to drip out of the side of her mouth. The Draugr surrounding them were giving off a creepy chant, banging their swords against their shields.

"I was alive long before you were born, child. And I will be long after..." Startled he looked to his right, having noticed the fiery projectile of immense proportions that was moving towards him from above the cave in the distance.

Nephiah dropped to the ground as he released his spell, turned around and brought up his ward. The fireball caused an explosion on impact, sending several Draugr flying. Wuunferth's ward was depleted instantly, he was thrown backwards and landed in the snow. The ground rumbled as he came to a halt. The earth broke open and swallowed the remaining Draugr both on the field and up on the hill.

Brelyna turned around to see the undead sink into the ground right in front of her, then back to the field. She threw both hands in the air. "Yes! Oh thank you! Thank you!"

Lying on her back Nephiah forced herself to reach across her chest to grab her chest plate on the spot under her arm where it was tied to the back plate with leather strips. She gave off heavy exertion noises as she pulled as hard as she could, until the strips snapped and the armor was flung away from her, letting her breathe again. She pushed herself to a sitting position and looked for Brelyna's shape in the distance. She saw her silhouette on top of the rocks, her arms raised, excitedly jumping up and down. A side of her mouth moved up ever so slightly.

Then she turned to her hands and knees and ripped bent pieces of steel off her shoulders, upper arms and upper legs. Still coughing up blood, she crawled through the snow, eventually finding one of her swords, then the other.

Wuunferth's eyes opened, he moaned as he sat upright. Spotting Nephiah pushing herself to her feet, he instantly stretched his arm out to her and lifted her of the ground, yet not remotely as high as before. He was breathing heavily.

Nephiah didn't feel like she was being crushed so much as she was merely floating. She looked at him and spit blood his way. "Tired?!"

Wuunferth stood up. "Not even remot..." Another fireball hit him from the side, knocking him back down.

Nephiah was able to land on her feet this time.

Brelyna approached, her hands in front of her, ready to fire.

Nephiah walked up to him as he turned to lie on his back. When she was close enough for him to see her, he raised a hand. His spell made her stop her approach but it wasn't strong enough to lift her up anymore.

Brelyna arrived at her side, they both looked down upon him, fear and pain on his face.

"Is this what it was like for you?", Nephiah asked in a threatening low tone of voice. "Looking down at me?" She rotated her swords around her wrists, they stopped pointing backwards.

"Wait!" He began to plead, his long life not having him prepared for the possibility of death.

"Now you know what it was like for me." She raised both swords over her head and brought them down, arriving in a crouching position, her fury breaking his spell without effort. Both blades pierced his chest and were driven deep into the earth beneath him.

He didn't scream, his mouth just opened wide at the shock of the sensation.

Nephiah was breathing heavily as she watched the purple glow in his eyes dim and flicker. Finally, he smiled. "A slave?", he whispered. "A blasted slave..."

As he inhaled his last breath, his hands opened, lightning shot out of his fingertips across the ground and many corpses. His young face wrinkled and fell in, the black color of his long beard faded to grey, then white, then the flashes faded away into darkness. He exhaled, the purple light in his eyes disappeared, he stopped moving.

Nephiah didn't move. The possibility of closure never really occurred to her. But it was over, and she was still alive. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Her touch was a promise of the future, void of violence and conflict, void of pain. A life worth living, also a concept she did not know existed. She let go of the weapons, leaving them where they were. Arriving in an upright position, she turned around.

Brelyna brushed the wet hair out of her face. "Is it over?", she asked.

Nephiah coughed and took a half step to the side to get good footing, her legs and knees suddenly aching and feeling very weak, her bare feet suddenly freezing in the snow.

Brelyna instantly reached beneath her arms to help keep her upright. As she was sure she wouldn't fall over, Nephiah looked back into her big, concerned eyes. Very slowly, she began to nod.

The concern on Brelyna's face gave way to a big smile, reading the sincerity on her face as the darkness it was covered in faded away. She laughed an exhausted laugh of relief and began to wipe the blood away from the side of her warrior's mouth. "We should probably find you a healer.", she said, watching many more drops of blood appear all across her face. "Look at you, you're such a mess!"

She noticed Nephiah's face shift to shock and fear in an instant.

"What's wrong?" She followed her gaze down to her chest, the tip of an ancient arrow stuck out of it. "Oh no..." She turned around to see where it had come from.

Nephiah's shocked eyes opened even wider as she spotted the shape holding the bow, standing in the middle of the field.

"SLAVE!" Nephiah flinched.

"Is that him?", Brelyna asked. Then the strength left her legs and she sunk to the ground.

"Nonono!" Nephiah fell to her knees alongside her, holding her shoulders.

Brelyna began to cough, blood sprinkled on the snow in front of her.

"Brelyna no!" Deep terror coursed through her bones. This was happening, she was not prepared for it in the slightest, she did not know what to do.

Brelyna fell to her back, pushing the arrow further through her chest. She screamed, she suddenly noticed the pain.

Nephiah grabbed the arrow to pull it out.

"Ou ou ou!" Brelyna's voice was high pitched and filled with agony, so much so, Nephiah instantly let go of the arrow. She would normally work through to make her better but that sound in her voice made her stop. It was a mortal wound.

"I had no books on healing?!" Nephiah's usually very stoic voice showed her fear.

"Just the...", Brelyna coughed again, "...just the one..."

Nephiah looked up and down her body, the snow she was lying on turned ever more red. "What do I do?!"

"Kiss me..." Brelyna said under her breath.

Nephiah quickly let herself fall to her, put her hand down beside her head and moved for a kiss. It was energetic and frantic, driven by fear more than anything else.

Brelyna's eyes closed, pushing tears out of the side of them.

Nephiah moved her head back and looked around. "Nothing happened!"

Brelyna moved her hands up and took hold of her warrior's face, making her look her in the eyes. "Nephiah? Listen...", she said hastily, knowing there wasn't much time.

"Nonono..."

Tears fell onto her from her love's eyes which were still hastily looking for help all around. "Listen!"

Nephiah looked her in the eye.

"You, my love, are the bravest person I have ever known..."

Nephiah gave off a loud sob, immense pain in her eyes.

"You must continue to be brave... for me... please do..." Brelyna took a quick breath, fighting against the pain. "Please do me this kindness... Please Nephiah, you have such a good heart..." She moved her left thumb gently across Nephiah's right cheek and the scar it carried. "They tried to kill it, but it is still there." She coughed again. "I have seen it... if you would just believe me..." The sadness in her heart overwhelmed the pain in her chest. She wanted to show her things, make her laugh, find out who she was without her memories haunting her.

The dull tingling in her hands and feet, however, let her know it was not going to happen. She had only a few words left to say to her love, she just hoped she would be wise enough to not waste them.

"All I ever wanted was for you to be alive..." She looked into her big dark eyes, eyes that had given her comfort, strength, eyes she loved so much. Eyes that looked at her in pain and fear. Her warrior was dying just as much as she was. "Well that and the kisses. The kisses weren't bad either."

A short laugh broke through Nephiah's whimpers.

"Made you smile, didn't I.", Brelyna said forcing a smug expression on her face.

Nephiah slowly shook her head, a motion that eventually turned to a nod. "Yes... yes you did..."

Both giggled shortly, a movement that quickly reminded Brelyna of the pain in her chest, which in turn reminded Nephiah of hers.

Her face still in both her hands, Brelyna wiped a stream of tears away from under her eyes. "So kiss me... my noble warrior."

Nephiah closed her eyes, their lips touched.

Brelyna's hands began to emit golden sparks that danced around them like fireflies, her arms glowed in bright yellow colors. Incredible warmth shot through Nephiah's body, she could hear their hearts beating in unison. The light grew brighter and brighter, eventually engulfing the both of them, shooting up into the sky, illuminating the entire field.

Then one of the hearts slowed down.

It beat once more.

And once more.

And once more.

Then the light stopped. Its last flickering sparks rose into the dark of night. The hands holding Nephiah's face fell lifeless, so were the lips she was kissing. She slowly moved her head back and opened her eyes.

No more puffs of steam were rising from Brelyna's nose or mouth, a last tear left her eye and made its way into the snow.

It was Healing Hands, the spell she overcharged with their final kiss. It had mended Nephiah's bones, her cuts and bruises, healed even her many scars. Including the one on her cheek. Including the one on her hand. She gazed upon the back of her hand for a moment, so sign of the branding left on her.

Then her eyes fell back onto her mage. She gave off a few loud sobs at the initial realization that her love lay dead before her. She moved her head back down until their foreheads touched. "No...", she said in a half whisper, a high pitched voice interjected into mostly exhaled air.

She got to her knees and turned her gaze to the man on the field, tears streaming down her face.

"I always knew where to hit you to make it really hurt, didn't I, slave." The one eyed man smiled a sinister smile. She moved her arms out and pushed her upper body forward as she released an incredibly loud, bone chilling scream of agony.

Frokwulf kept smiling. "Now that's what I like to see."

As the emotional bomb exploded in Nephiah's head, she grabbed her shoulder and ripped the chainmail she had been wearing under her armor apart, it dropped to the ground. The rags worn under it covered only her upper torso and nether regions to prevent chafing, providing no combat protection whatsoever. She didn't care, it was heavy and restricting and she wanted it gone.

"How savage of you!", Frokwulf yelled amused.

She flung herself to the side and took hold of her swords. She began to charge him in the same movement they were pulled out of Wuunferth's corpse, flinging him around as if he had no weight at all. As she ran towards him at high speed, she screamed again, the wound she had just received powering her rage unlike anything she ever felt. It wasn't so much driving her as it was consuming everything there was, making everything weightless, pushing her from behind. Gone were the sensations of sharp winds and freezing feet.

Frokwulf unsheathed two swords of his own from behind his back. "I am Wuunferth's final breath! A fitting death, his gift to you!"

They met, the clashing of steel instantly echoed through the night. Her movements were incredibly fast, her swings incredibly powerful.

He was on the defensive right away, he had trouble keeping her at bay. More trouble than anticipated by the look on his face. He almost lost his weapon a couple of times trying to block the wraith of fury hacking away at him.

She wasn't operating with reason, nor was she exercising any kind of tactic. She saw the face of the cause of all her pain in front of her and she wanted him dead. Her body simply obeyed, every muscle focused on this singular goal.

"Slave!" Frokwulf shouted half angry, half scared. "Kneel!"

Nephiah did not flinch, nor did she slow down. She released another agonized scream, her swords still attacking in combinations of low, mid level and high attacks, waiting for the one block of his that would fail him.

"This does not hurt! You don't exist!"

Nephiah's fire lit up even stronger upon hearing this particular voice saying those particular words. She brought her foot up and kicked him in the gut with enough force to make him lose his weapons and stumble back. She brought her torso down and charged, ramming her shoulder into his stomach. She screamed as she lifted him up over her shoulder and let him crash into the ground behind her. She rotated her swords on her wrists as she turned to bring them down on her tormentor with flaming rage.

He quickly rolled to the side, the swords got burried deep in the earth. He used the second that she needed to pull them out of the ground to jump to where his blades had fallen. He grabbed both of them and quickly turned as Nephiah was already on her way. Sparks appeared where her swords met his.

She stopped slashing and held steady against his block. She moved her blades up until they crossed, he did not possess the strength to keep her down. She began to push, moving the crossed swords closer and closer to his neck.

Their faces got close, he stared into her agony filled eyes, dark, unstoppable fury burning brightly inside of them.

"When he learned you didn't die in the purge, he kept my corpse around in case he ever found you. Or you found him." He was beginning to push back harder. "Say what you will about him but he was not a fool. Because no one knows you as I do."

Her stance wavered at hearing those words. A split second of uncertainty that he instantly exploited by moving his head forward, letting his forehead collide with her nose.

She stumbled back, he instantly followed up with a kick into the gut. The pain made her lose grip of her swords.

He threw his swords down and walked up to her. "Such fire you have in you!" He grabbed her by the neck, raised her up as far as he could and then slammed her into the ground. There he held her as she was coughing. He began to squeeze.

Both her hands moved in between his arms and grabbed his neck. But instead of pushing or squeezing, she pulled him down.

'She should not be able to pull with that kind of strength' was the last he thought before his face collided with her forehead.

His hand instantly lost hold of her, she threw him off to the side and jumped up. She put a foot under one of her swords and threw it up, her right hand caught it mid air.

He had pushed himself into an unstable kneeling position. The impact had left him dizzy, blood shooting out of his nose. As he saw the blade rushing towards him, he stuck out his left arm in reflex, it was sliced off at the elbow. He screamed at the pain and the sight of his stump gushing out blood.

He turned to his right and reached for one of the Draugr swords on the ground. A high pitched swishing noise later his right hand had been separated by the ebony blade that hit the blood drenched snow beneath it. He screamed again, more in shock than pain.

She picked up her other sword and positioned herself in front of him, he looked up at her. She rotated both swords on her wrists until pointing them backwards, raised them and then brought them down with another agonized scream, driving them through his thighs, his calves beneath them and even further into the ground until the hilts stopped the movement.

He was not only disabledbut nailed to the ground.

She took a knee to be on even height with him, reached behind her back and produced her dagger. She grabbed the back of his head and held it up so he could get a good look at the Dunmeri symbols engraved on its hilt. Then she moved the tip of the dagger close to his remaining eye. "Do you like what you see?"

A thousand images flashed through her mind in that moment. Her father taking his last breath, a Bosmer boy murdered in front of her eyes, a thousand whips cracking down on her back. Brelyna's face, smiling at her. Hot iron pressing down on her hand. Blood, her own, that of a boy, a claw scratching at her face, an arrow sticking out of her love's chest. That last image lingered a second longer than the others.

She slowly moved the dagger forward, taking in every second of his agonized scream. She joined in with his screaming as the hilt reached his eye socket and wouldn't move any further.

And there she held it until he stopped making sounds, stopped moving. Her scream persisted a good while longer then his. Eventually, its echo faded into the woods.

She let go, his lifeless, mangled body fell to the side. She sat down, emptiness on her face, her cheeks wet with tears.

His skin turned grey, then black, then the icy winds tore his shape apart, blowing the ashes into the starry night. Her eyes followed his remains as they faded away, the winds whistled across the field all around her.

After a moment she forced herself to move. She crawled to Brelyna on hands and knees and sat down at her side. She took her hand, it was already very cold. She looked at her face. Tears continued to flow as pain returned to her face for a moment. "Why am I alive...", she whispered, "...and you are not..." Then emptiness yet again.

She was void of warmth, of strength, she was done. Would her mage open her eyes and smile at her, she might find the strength to move. But no such luck. She had nowhere to go, no reason to.

They were all dead.

In a way he was right.

She didn't exist.

That arrow had killed the both of them. So she just looked at her, waiting for her body to follow her spirit. "Do me this kindness...", her voice echoed through her head. She began to feel incredibly tired. She lay down in the snow at her side, resting her head on her shoulder.

Her tears began to form little ice flowers on her face. It was a cold night. She closed her eyes.


	26. There Should Be a Song

**Chapter 26: There Should Be a Song**

"She began to feel incredibly tired. She lay down in the snow at her side, resting her head on her shoulder. Her tears began to form little icy flowers on her face. It was a cold night. She closed her eyes."

"What happened then?!" Eight children sitting around the campfire looked at the Khajiit with big eyes.

"Did she die?", asked a Nord boy.

"Did someone save her?", inquired a Bosmer girl.

"She froze to death didn't she!", shouted a Breton boy.

"Tell us, master cat, please!"

"This one is called M'aiq. Not 'master cat'."

"Please, M'aiq, tell us!"

An old Dunmer woman in black robes stepped up behind him. "She didn't need saving. She was already saved."

M'aiq looked up at her like he had just been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to. "Time for supper, children."

A roar went through the crowd. "Please! Tell us how it ends!"

"Now.", the woman said more firmly, pointing up the hill.

"Awwww. Yes, Ma."

The children ran up the grassy hill to the old mansion that stood on top of it. The old woman turned her gaze to the cat sitting at her feet. "Isn't that tale a bit too grim to tell the children?"

M'aiq stood up and brushed dry leaves off his cloak. "They wanted to know how Brelyna's Orphanage got its name. How could M'aiq refuse?"

She gave him a disapproving look. Then she sighed. "Staying for supper?"

"Gladly."

It was a sunny day, birds were tweeting in the trees, a soft breeze hushed through the air. They walked up the wooden steps that lead to a terrace at the building's side, two tables were filled with assortments of food, the chatter of the children was loud.

An old Nord and a young Altmer woman were sitting in their midst.

The old Dunmer pointed at the remaining open spot. "You can have my seat." M'aiq sat down and looked at the feast in front of him. The woman instantly reached down and took the bowl from under his nose. "I said my seat, not my food."

He looked up at her. "Horker stew?"

"Shh.", she replied smiling. She walked to the guard rail and rested her elbows on it, taking in a few whiffs of warm summer air. Down the hill between the trees Lake Ilinalta stretched out in front of her. She took a few sips from her bowl.

After a while of listening to the chatter behind her, she began to walk. The terrace reached around the back of the house.

On a table there lay a book alongside a quill and inkwell. She placed the bowl down and picked up the book. She took a deep breath.

"Is today the day?"

Maiq had followed her, she turned around. "You know full well. Thought that's why you came."

He stepped up to her, took her hand and smiled.

"Do you want to hear a song?" the old Nord around the corner loudly proposed to the children who met the notion with cheer. A moment later they could hear a lute beginning to play a tune.

The Dunmer smiled back at the cat, turned around and left for the stairs.

She walked a few minutes through the woods until arriving at her destination. A well kept grave with a ring of flowers resting on it. Instead of a name, a dagger was encased in the grave stone, it had Dunmeri symbols engraved into its hilt.

At its side was another grave, this one was empty, a blank stone on top of a long hole in the ground. It was overgrown with plantlife, it had been here for a long time. Two ancient looking ebony swords were sticking out of the ground to the left and right of the blank stone.

She kneeled down at the grave that was full, tightly holding on to the book in her hands. Tears formed in her eyes.

"I miss you...", she began to speak. "You told me once you would like there to be a song... The song of Nephiah and Brelyna." She took a deep breath to fight the tears, her voice started to quiver. "Well, I finished it." She carefully placed the book on top of the grave. "Sorry it took me so long. I did have to learn how to write first."

M'aiq approached from behind and stopped, keeping a respectful distance.

"I don't know how else to thank you.", she continued, tears now rolling down her cheeks. "Except for trying to be what you saw in me, every day, every..." She gave off a sob, immense sadness showing on her face. She bowed her head and placed a hand on the grave. "Every day I hope... to prove I am worthy of you. Of your love."

She took a deep breath. "So thank you. Thank you for your forgiveness for all the times I squeezed your hand too hard. For showing me kindness when all I could see was pain. And thank you for stew and nose licking and..."

She exhaled loudly and closed her eyes. "For how you always touched me and how it always brought me peace."

Her voice left her, she took a few moments to breathe deeply. "And I'm sorry. For blaming you. For not seeing you sooner. For all the times I got you hurt. Especially that last time." She opened her eyes and looked up to the dagger on the grave stone. "Thank you for saving me. In every way one can be saved by another." She got to her feet. "And maybe someday I will see you again." She closed her eyes and began to cry silently.

A hand was gently put on her shoulder. She took a couple of more deep breaths to regain her composure. She turned around to look at him.

"You will.", he said.

"You will see her again someday. If you want to believe this old cat."

She gave off a short laugh through her tears and nodded. "Just this once."

They turned to go back to the orphanage.

"You know, M'aiq..."

"Yes, noble warrior?"

"I have lived a very long life."

"Yes, noble warrior."

"Khajiit don't live that long."

No response this time.

"One of these days you will have to tell me how you never seem to age."

"One of these days, noble warrior."

"Because if you keep yourself alive by sucking the souls out of people, I will have to kill you."

"M'aiq will bear that in mind..."

Their voices became muffled as their distance to the graves increased and they eventually disappeared between the trees. The breeze blew open the cover of the book that was resting on the grave. The first page said:

The Song of Nephiah and Brelyna

Of the Love to heal her Wound

Of Kindness bravely meeting Rage

Of two Souls so well attuned

Of a Warrior

and her Mage.

The End


End file.
